Cladding and Curtain Walling Inspection, Survey and Maintenance

Vertex Rope Access undertake expert independent condition surveys on all types of commercial, industrial, residential and historic buildings. All our surveys are performed by our specialist team of highly experienced IRATA, IPAF and Confined Space qualified buildings surveyors and civil engineers.

A cladding system typically refers to panelised non-structural, external surfaces, but the term covers countless different systems, materials and products produced by numerous manufactures and installed in endless different ways.

When cladding systems fail, it is exactly because of the myriad available systems that diagnosing exactly how and why a cladding system has failed proves so problematic.

Inspections must be approached by skilled, experienced and rope access qualified professionals.

At Vertex Access, we specialise in surveying cladding systems, both for general defects and cladding system pathologies. Using rope access techniques allows an unparalleled speed of data gathering and survey accuracy to be achieved, without the exposure to the high costs involved in scaffolding erection or the installation of powered access systems.

Wherever possible, we always undertake thorough literature reviews of the cladding panel specifications, construction drawings and related documentation prior to embarking on the survey, in order that we thoroughly understand how the system was installed.

Using a combination of expertise and intrusive inspection and testing, our specialist team of IRATA and IPAF qualified building surveyors and facade engineers can accurately and reliably:

• Survey the general condition and integrity of rain screeen cladding systems and curtain walling;

• Evaluate whether the system has been correctly installed, identify workmanship defects, and whether the installation meets design specifications;

• Examine for the presence and construction of cavity barriers, fire breaks and other fire-stopping measures;

• Identify and record oxidisation and corrosion of cladding panels and fixings;

• Boroscope examinations and sample collection.

• Intrusive and invasive inspection to reveal cladding system internal structure details, insulation identification, rail build-ups and interfaces, and primary and secondary steelwork construction.

• Mobile spray bar and controlled pressure leak testing, all performed in-house and in accordance with CWCT and UKAS standards.

• Infrared Thermography to evaluate the condition of cladding systems, with the support of qualified thermographers.

Comprehensive and accessible reports and schedules of defects are produced by our building surveyors that allow our clients to reliably plan and cost remedial works, significantly reducing their risk of exposure to project uncertainty.

We also partner with one of the UK’s leading specialist Façade Consultancies, to harness the best engineering support and professional review of survey outcomes.

Please contact us for more information on this.

Our cladding system survey services are supported by our unique UAV division, Vertex Air, who operate market-leading drone technology for high-definition photographic condition surveys, thermographic imaging and 3 dimensional modelling.