Is your building’s façade a ‘House of Horrors’?
Mild mannered Building Manager Janet spent her days not worrying about the outside, choosing to ignore all the tell-tail warning signs, until one fateful, dark and stormy night her façade finally cracked and what lurked beneath was a waking nightmare…
If only Janet had spoken to the team at Thomann-Hanry® to conduct a full commercial buildings façade survey, her problems could have been avoided.
This October, multi award-winning commercial building façade experts, Thomann-Hanry® are posing a question to building managers which will send chills down their spines. The simple question, which many fear and dread, ‘Is your building’s façade safe?’
With a growing backlog of maintenance and repairs being recorded, along with an increase in incidents of members of the public becoming injured by falling masonry – could your business afford the financial and reputational fall out?
“We have been conducting commercial building façade surveys for many years, but over the last 24 months, even we have been surprised at the level of dangerous and potentially life-threatening loose masonry and stonework that we are finding.” commented Mark Styles, Managing Director of Thomann-Hanry®. “Our team have removed over 750kg of loose structural and architectural materials during this period, most of which could cause serious, if not fatal, accidents if they fell on a member of the public who was below.”
An increasing danger
With an estimated 14,400 events of falling masonry and debris every year across the UK*, and as falling masonry causes at least 5 instances of death or serious injury per year in the UK**, building management teams need to be sure that they have done enough to mitigate the potential risks which could occur due to structural façade degradation and decay.
Most recently, a restaurant in Kensington, West London had a large section of architectural console fall into an exterior dining area, with it being reported in The Standard that ‘the block narrowly missed one diner’s head, hitting her chair leg and cracking the pavement’.
One of the key reasons for these types of incidents increasing has been the result of climate change, with the UK experiencing increased levels of precipitation of between 10-15% since 1990. The Met Office are predicting the occurrence of storms to become more frequent and increase in intensity, this can then cause cracked masonry and render to work loose becoming a potential lawsuit and reputational nightmare waiting to happen.
Why choose Thomann-Hanry® Surveying Services
Thomann-Hanry® has decades of experience in surveying, maintaining and cleaning the façades of commercial buildings and can help you mitigate the unthinkable from happening.
Surveys are conducted from MEWPs (Mobile Elevating Work Platforms) to allow for close-up inspections and the removal of any loose masonry which poses an immediate danger to the public (something which is not possible using drones). As no scaffolding is required, a survey can be quickly arranged and conducted without the additional cost and time demanded by erecting scaffolding.
Thomann-Hanry® will work with you to provide a thoroughly detailed and well documented commercial buildings façade survey, which will actively identify and address hidden problems, emphasising key areas of concern, and allowing you and your team to make an informed decision on how you wish to repair or replace before they become of significant concern.
“Thomann-Hanry® has been instructed to carry out over 600 façade surveys in 2024, and with more due for 2025, we are your perfect partner to conduct your commercial building’s façade survey to ensure it is safe, secure and fit for purpose” stated Mark Styles.
To find out more about Thomann-Hanry®‘s Commercial Buildings Façade Survey services visit thomann-hanry.co.uk/houseofhorrors or call 020 8453 1494 TODAY!