Construction World January 2017

Rope access for Swazi Property’s facilities management Leading rope-access specialist Skyriders Access Specialists has completed a fast-track facilities management (FM) contract for Swazi Plaza Properties in Mbabane, Swaziland.

Skyriders boasts extensive experience in all rope-access applications, and also undertakes work in the mining and heavy industrial sectors. It offers services such as non-destructive testing (NDT) and inspection, concrete inspection, maintenance and repairs, application of coating systems, working-at-height safety systems, welding, and confined space rescue and standby. 

The property development company is owner of Swazi Plaza, the largest shopping centre in Swaziland. Marketing manager Mike Zinn explains that Skyriders deployed a five-person team for the 27-day contract, which encompassed a range of FM services, from window and louvre cleaning to signage maintenance and painting, as well as the installation of bird spikes. “There is a definite upsurge in interest from the FM industry in rope access in terms of cost-effective and flexible maintenance,” Zinn comments. “Maintenance budgets are under considerable pressure, and rope access can offer considerable cost-savings.” Rope access is one of the safer means of accessing difficult-to- reach points in a number of applications, especially when the cost of access is disproportionate to the scope of work. The scope of rope- access work includes general maintenance such as cleaning, repair, painting and inspections. “Rope access provides flexibility, as rope access technicians are able to traverse obstacles in order to carry out numerous tasks relating to inspection, maintenance and surveying, all while they are suspended securely. It is highly-effective for numerous rescue tasks in any application over 2 m above ground,” Zinn highlights. While Skyriders initially cut its teeth on maintenance contracts such as that for Swazi Plaza Properties, the company has since diversified into highly-specialised sectors such as power generation, where rope access is ideal for inspection and maintenance on tall structures such as smoke stacks, cooling towers and boilers.

Skyriders deployed a five-person team for the 27-day contract, which encompassed a range of FM services.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD JANUARY 2017