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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
JANUARY
2017
The property development company is owner of Swazi Plaza, the
largest shopping centre in Swaziland. Marketing manager Mike Zinn
explains that Skyriders deployed a five-person team for the 27-day
contract, which encompassed a range of FM services, from window
and louvre cleaning to signage maintenance and painting, as well as
the installation of bird spikes.
“There is a definite upsurge in interest from the FM industry in
rope access in terms of cost-effective and flexible maintenance,”
Zinn comments. “Maintenance budgets are under considerable
pressure, and rope access can offer considerable cost-savings.”
Rope access is one of the safer means of accessing difficult-to-
reach points in a number of applications, especially when the cost of
access is disproportionate to the scope of work. The scope of rope-
access work includes general maintenance such as cleaning, repair,
painting and inspections.
“Rope access provides flexibility, as rope access technicians
are able to traverse obstacles in order to carry out numerous tasks
relating to inspection, maintenance and surveying, all while they are
suspended securely. It is highly-effective for numerous rescue tasks
in any application over 2 m above ground,” Zinn highlights.
While Skyriders initially cut its teeth on maintenance contracts
such as that for Swazi Plaza Properties, the company has since
diversified into highly-specialised sectors such as power generation,
where rope access is ideal for inspection and maintenance on tall
structures such as smoke stacks, cooling towers and boilers.
Skyriders boasts extensive experience in all rope-access
applications, and also undertakes work in the mining and heavy
industrial sectors. It offers services such as non-destructive testing
(NDT) and inspection, concrete inspection, maintenance and repairs,
application of coating systems, working-at-height safety systems,
welding, and confined space rescue and standby.
Rope access for Swazi Property’s facilities management
Leading rope-access specialist Skyriders Access
Specialists has completed a fast-track facilities
management (FM) contract for Swazi Plaza Properties
in Mbabane, Swaziland.
Skyriders deployed a
five-person team for the
27-day contract, which
encompassed a range
of FM services.