Concept to Completion: Your Select Access Journey

Choosing the right height safety and façade access systems for your building can be difficult. Select Access simplifies the process by collaborating with our clients from project conception to completion, ensuring the safety of work at height end-users at all times.

That being said, this month’s blog will focus on and inform you about how the Select Access team supports all project phases and ensure full compliance with industry and legislative requirements.

Pre-tender Consultancy 

Select Access assists customers in developing a height and façade access strategy prior to releasing tenders to the market. As part of this, the Select Access team consults with the client about the specific system information needed for the project, as well as the standards and requirements for system use and installation.

An access risk assessment is critical for the development of any project’s strategy. From the moment the end-user enters the facility, an access risk assessment is created, which includes how they will gain access to the building’s systems, as well as any safety equipment they will require. Any gating or pinch points will be revealed as a result of this. When considering rope access davit arms, for example, consider the manual handling requirements as well as the means to access the work area from both a functionality and a work-at-height safety standpoint.

This access risk assessment also highlights the necessary safety equipment, the personnel involved in the work and their required training, and any task-specific skill sets required, such as the Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA). The risk assessment also examines the installation requirements of the proposed height safety and façade access systems, taking into account items like concrete drilling and any chemicals that may be required.

The Select Access technical team will select the appropriate work-at-height system for the project based on the access risk assessment and any information provided by the client, including DRW’s. The Select Access in-house design team uses this information to create CAD designs that ensure the access coverage is complete as required, with notations indicating this. The design will be mindful of the structure as well as the vision of the design team.

The access strategy will cover all proposed systems’ design, testing, and end-user application, as well as end-user competencies. Our technical team creates supporting N25 specification documents for each aspect of the proposed strategy as part of the Select Access process. The N25 documents are completed to ensure that all tendering companies receive the required equipment specifications and that all other requirements are clearly detailed.

Throughout all review phases, the Select Access team provides ongoing support to the client. Supporting design workshops enables our team to collaborate with other principle designers at this early stage to review any potential clashes and consider alternative solutions.

Design, Installation, Testing & Certification

When Select Access is awarded a project, the design team will provide a full design suite of DRWs, backed up by a technical submission. This includes equipment details and conformity, fixing/incorporation into the structure details, and testing requirements.

The operations and logistics team at Select Access manages the supply of the necessary equipment, the creation of all safety and installation documentation, and the deployment of our team of certified engineers to complete the work on behalf of the client. The testing of anchors, as well as the documentation of both the installation and the testing completed for the Building Control Amendment Regulations (BCAR), is an important part of the installation team’s process. After the site team has completed and certified the system, the design manager over the works will complete the ‘As Built’ DRWs, ensuring that all detailed installations are fully captured on the final DRW.

Ancillary Certificates will be processed in support of this, along with the installation certificate for the client.

Maintenance & Re-certification

The testing and recertification stage is the final stage of the process for clients. The Select Access testing administration team will contact the building’s facility management team to advise them on the necessary testing requirements to keep their system certified. For systems that use industrial rope access systems, this may be required every 6 months, whereas cable-based systems may only require testing once a year. On a client-by-client basis, our team will advise on the appropriate timeframe. The Select Access team ensures that all stages, from concept to completion, are finished to the highest standard, providing the client and facility manager with peace of mind.

The Select Access consulting team is comprised of industry experts in system design, installation, and end-user interface. This enables us to provide access solutions that both meet the required standards and provide safe, practical access solutions.

Contact the Select Access team today at info@selectaccess.ie for more information on the ideal select access and facade access system for your project!