Client Stories: High-rise window cleaning when the building’s maintenance cradle is out of order

Recently we were asked to wash the windows of the five-storey office block above Harrow on the Hill tube and bus station. As high-rise window cleaning specialists this is an ‘everyday’ project for us, but, as with many projects we’ve taken on over the years, this one had its challenges that make it worthy of note, and an article.

Challenge #1: Broken building maintenance cradle

High-rise window cleaning is not without its risks, so where possible we use the equipment already professionally installed at the property. This is often in the form of a building maintenance unit, or cradle as it’s also known. You’ll have seen one before, dangling from the roof of a tall building on wires. These platforms carry maintenance personnel up and down a building so they can safety repair some element of the exterior. We often use them when cleaning the windows because, at height, they are often the safest option. However, when we arrived to survey this particular job we found that the building maintenance unit was out of order.

We pointed this out to the client, but at the same time we recognised that the repair and ongoing maintenance for such equipment can be costly. Knowing this, and not wanting to delay the project any more than necessary we offered an alternative solution. So we could do our job without delay and save the client from having to pay immediately for repairs – we chose to use our abseiling gear instead.

Challenge #2: Lack of rigging points for our abseiling equipment

And that’s when we came up against challenge number two for the day. Because the building had a maintenance cradle, someone in their ultimate wisdom had decided it didn’t need rigging points for abseiling equipment. Not a problem – we’ve swung ourselves out on many a high-rise building throughout London, so we’re prepared for almost any eventuality. This is a common occurrence, so we use our own mobile attachment points. These are deadweight trollies that can be wheeled up to the roof and locked in place to handle the weight of a team member and ensure their safety when going over the edge.

Challenge #3: The footfall underneath our feet

Harrow on the Hill station is busy – really busy – around 13.5 million people enter and exit the station each year, so, while we carefully follow all safety guidelines at all times, we took the prudent decision to do the work when footfall was at its lowest, at 5am on Saturday and Sunday morning. Working in collaboration with Transport for London, we coordinated our window cleaning with their maintenance schedule and while we were abseiling over the road – which literally goes through the ground floor of the building – they closed it down, just for a couple of hours, so we could safely carry out our work.

Our job is dangerous, but if you train every year to maintain your health and safety knowledge, and if you employ that knowledge in practice, then you can be confident that no matter the challenges a job throws at you, you’ll have the expertise to find a solution that will keep your team safe and your client’s windows sparkling.

If you require any assistance, have any questions or would value a no obligation quote for your windows or interior glass cleaning, please do feel free to message us here or call us direct on 020 39542900.

Have an amazing day and enjoy your views through your windows.