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Dealing With Heights

by Admin
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Why BMUs

BMUs are not necessarily essential for all kinds of buildings. They are most suitable for high rises and terrace periphery is suitable for common motorised roof equipment, says Khushru Tampal, Mazda Hospitality Services, a facility management company based in Mumbai.

“Besides, not every building has necessarily got a BMU,” asserts Rakesh Lal, Proprietor, Classic Appearance, a facility management company based in New Delhi. It depends on the requirement of the building’s design and risk factors and sometimes on the client. “We have seen simple five to six-storey buildings with trolleys. We have also seen multi-storey buildings or more than 10 floors where BMUs are essential and there are no systems installed. I think it depends on the mind set of the architect and building owners. In my view, both BMU and spiderman system are safe means of cleaning façade, if handled professionally.” Apart from the height of the building, the choice of the BMU system also depends on the complexity of the façade and the space available on the terrace. “In many of the cases BMU may not be efficient and a cost effective system,” says Khushru.

BMUs are not just used for cleaning the façade but in maintaining the exteriors too. In the event of a crack or a breakage in any of the glasses, it can be easily replaced if the access system is in place. “In the absence of a proper access system, maintenance of the building façade becomes an expensive affair,” says Samir Khan, Managing Director, Window Washers, Mumbai. The company is directly servicing the hotel sector and is working with FM companies in commercial buildings.

In fact, when it comes to replacing just a single glass of the façade, no vendor would want to take up the job. Simply because the expense of installing the glass would be more than the glass itself, explains Samir. With proper access system in place, it is easier for the vendor to replace glass or clean it up. Even though it is not cost effective to attend to one glass in buildings, the hotels with no access systems are still prepared to spend money for the replacement of even one glass because a broken glass can mar their image.

According to Khushru, there are mostly four types of façade access systems that are attached to a building structure for cleaning and maintenance:

  • Manual: Jib/Davit with Manual Gandola
  • Semi Motorised: Jib/Davit wit Motorized Gandola
  • Fully Motorised: (BMU) Motorised Terrace Trolley & Motorised Gandola, Monorail with Motorised Traversing Rollers & Motorised Gandola.
  • Spiderman Technique

In Mumbai, Mazda is working with the simple eye bolts & spiderman technique at HDFC-Chandivali; Aluminum quick fit staging/scaffold at the Times of India-Kandivali; Special purpose tailor made equipment at Bayer Crop Science; Monorail system at ICICI Ventures; Trackless trolley at AMBIT and Purpose made trolley system at Raheja Bay.

“The other methods utilised to access the façade for cleaning include ground supported equipment like electro-hydraulic platforms, access ladders, aluminum quick fit staging/scaffold, Z-boom lifts and aerial lift.”

Mazda is also using trolleys, jibs, scaffoldings, aerial platforms, telescoping rods and access rope (spiderman system) at various sites. “At Unitech or the Asia Pacific Institute of Management, where the BMUs are in place, we get to use them.”

Cleaning aids/schedule

Cleaning as such should be done with quality products, believes Khushru. “The basic things required to actually clean the façade are glass applicators, glass squeegees, scrapers, buckets, dusters and glass cleaners & chemicals to remove the silicon and water marks from the surface.”

Most of the time, explains Rakesh, accessories and chemicals are decided by the client. “We prefer glass cleaner liquid of Taski-R3 and other A simple squeegee, applicator and non-alkaline chemical of Schevaran Laboratories are what Window Washers use for cleaning. “We tried using Chinese material for cleaning but it required frequent replacement. Unger tools have been found very compatible,” adds Samir.

The need and frequency for cleaning facades depends on the type of industry. The hospitality industry and malls need regular cleaning while other industries can make do with quarterly or half yearly cleaning schedule. Besides the frequency, Rakesh feels, facades should be cleaned only at the scheduled time of the day. “One should not clean the glass under direct sunlight. Schedule should be made in accordance to the angle of the sunlight and shadow of the building. Cleaning should also be avoided when it is raining.”

“It is better to clean every alternate month but that again depends on the clients. Some clients are very particular about regular cleaning while some are not,” opines Khushru.

“In the hotels, façade cleaning is all the more important, as the room charges are based on the view outside. From the outside of the hotel, glass may look clean but from inside the room, even a small speckle can mar the view. Hence, regular cleaning is unavoidable. Our trained boys are employed on a monthly basis to clean the hotel façade regularly. If it is a big hotel, one round of cleaning would take a month to complete while in smaller hotels we can finish at least two rounds in the month,” explains Samir.

With offices in Mumbai, MP and Kolkata and operations all over India,Window Washers is cleaning hotels like Four Seasons, Grand Hyatt, Tunga Hotels and Royal Palms Hotels. Most of the hotels do not have the access systems and “we use the spiderman technique or the gandolas”.

The cleaning of a façade depends on how fast the job needs to be done. “At Four Seasons, we have placed six boys who complete cleaning the 34-storey building in one month. In case the client wants it to be completed in 15 days, we can always deploy more staff and systems and get the work done.”

Gandolas are neither easy to use nor are safe and have led to many accidents, says Samir. The company employs around 50 trained façade cleaners and uses around 40 systems. The rope systems are both locally made and imported but are CE approved (European Certification).

At Classic Appearance, more than 100 men are trained in the spiderman technique. These workers are first initiated as helpers at the site for at least two to three months before letting them do the actual job. At the training session the workers are taught how to tie the knot to the rope, where to tie the rope, how to use descenders and about fall-arrest, harness, carabineers and safety belt. In fact, there is a huge gap between the supply and demand of such workers. To an extent there is a monopoly of the spiderman technique in façade cleaning even though it is a very risky job,” opines Rakesh.

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