Re-Glazing in PolycarbonatesWhilst there is still a lot of the older glasshouses in use,both as growing houses and garden centres, it is important that they should comply with all of the new health & safety issues that are increasingly popping up these days.
The main concerns are nearly always around the ventilation systems, as they are moving parts it is extremely important that they are services at least every 12 months, the manufacturers recommend every 6 months, this to correct any alignment problems, failure to comply with this could result in serious damage that might contravene health & safety regulations. The other contentious area are the state of the glazing, H. S. E and insurers have been promoting the use of polycarbonates for sometime, this is an unbreakable material and as such is ideal for both garden centre and growing houses alike, it is widely acknowledged that the moving parts should re glazed in polycarbonate, ie. Ventilators, it makes great sense as these are moving parts,any collapse in this area would undoubtedly cause a lot of damage,not to mention possible injury, in time this could become legislation, an increasing number of colleges and garden centres have recognised this and have kept ahead of the game by having the work carried out before it is forced upon them.
In recent years both the NFU and other advisory boards have been trying to encourage the use of polycarbonate to replace the normal horticultural glass, under new legislation nearly all new garden centres and class 1 buildings are built using twin wall polycarbonate and various other composite roofing systems. This is mainly for health and safety reason,although there are other benefits to the grower, once correctly fitted, it is virtually maintenance free, it also offers a much greater heat retention, therefore reducing those costly heating bills,it will also virtually stamp out all those leaky roofing systems, which in a garden centre or indeed a teaching environment is very important. There is also some talk about bringing in yet more legislation with regards to all older glasshouses, this is mainly to do with all moving parts etc, it is been proposed that all moving parts should be reglazed in twin wall polycarbonate, this would mean that all ventilators would have to be reglazed, our experience tells us that this would make a lot of sense, in our view the way forward. This is also an excellent way to bring your glasshouse into the 21st century and extend its working live for at least another 20 years. |