Safely Maintaining Moveable Walls – Jan 2024
Safely Maintaining Moveable Walls – Jan 2024
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Demand for moveable walls from within the education sector has grown in recent years, with schools, colleges and universities all aiming to create adaptable space.
With moveable walls becoming increasingly integral to the smooth running of the curriculum, emphasis must be placed on maintenance and service of the system, minimising the risk of unscheduled downtime, or a degradation of acoustic and fire safety performance.
“With technological advances, moveable wall systems have become more complex,” comments Katie Mitchell, southern service and repair manager at leading partitioning specialist, Style.
“It is vital to have your partitioning wall regularly serviced and maintained by a professional with the necessary credentials to carry out a safe and thorough job.”
An appropriate level of competence might be CITB approved in-house training. Engineers should also hold an NVQ Level Two Operable Wall Installer certificate and have the necessary training for access equipment, such as PASMA and IPAF. For fully and semi automatic systems, engineers must have certified manufacturer training, with fault detection software and hardware available.
Finally, a service provider with a team of directly employed engineers, rather than sub-contracted, helps maintain quality management systems by ensuring continuity of care.
All Style engineers have been trained in health and safety, asbestos awareness, risk assessment, and PASMA. Style is also CHAS and ConstructionLine accredited and offer the only genuine UK nationwide breakdown and repair service for all types and makes of acoustic moveable walls and folding partitions.
“Aiming to minimise cost and disruption, we always try to repair an existing system wherever possible, replacing individual parts or even re-fashioning worn components on occasions,” concludes Katie. “A well-maintained moveable wall can operate safely and efficiently for 25 years plus and key to that is a good relationship with a reputable servicing partner.”