Cleaning & Maintenance Manual

Introduction

This document is published to give guidance to those carrying out and responsible for the cleaning of Lonsdale glass roofs. If you require a definitive method statement, please contact a specialist cleaning company for advice. The photograph from days gone by on the front cover, is a good illustration of how not to carry out safe cleaning of a glass roof taking into consideration today’s increased health & safety standards. We recommend inspection, cleaning & maintenance only be carried out by experienced, qualified operatives.

Inspection

In usual environmental conditions, we recommend annual inspection of the patent glazing system and any incorporated components by those responsible for the building’s maintenance. Please refer to the Maintenance Check List at the end of this document which should be photocopied and used as a record of inspections.
If it is known that the environment may be aggressive, such as a chemical factory, marine environment, polluted or similar, the intervals should be increased to quarterly or six monthly inspections depending upon the severity of the problem.

Access

Access to vertical or sloping patent glazing to both the inside and outside will be required periodically for inspection, cleaning and maintenance purposes. It is vital persons carrying out this work use suitable access equipment and necessary personal protection such as gloves, hats & goggles to ensure their own safety and the safety of others who may be in danger from falling debris, tools or other materials. We recommend the method of access be agreed with a specialist provider of access systems and a method statement issued before commencement of any inspection.

Temporary access may be required for inspections and small maintenance jobs and should be removed as soon as possible after use. Ladders and crawling boards should be used to spread the load over the patent glazing system. Neither the glass or the patent glazing system should ever be directly walked on. Boards and ladders should be supported at purlins or other structural members and carefully secured to ensure they do not move during use. Examples can be seen in Fig 1 an extract from BS5516 for the design and installation of sloped and vertical patent glazing.
Temporary access can also be provided by mobile platforms such as scissor lifts and cranes. Scissor lifts, a form of powered platform are particularly suitable for access from inside the building. The manufacturers instructions must be carefully followed and we recommend this type of equipment only be operated by experienced personnel.

Permanent access systems such as that shown in the above photograph are particularly suitable for large and or high areas of roof glazing. These may take the form of fixed or movable ladders on tracks supported off the structure of the building and should not be attached to or transfer load to any part of the patent glazing system.

Cleaning

Cleaning should be carried out to remove debris and grime from the roof to maintain good light transmission. The frequency of cleaning will be determined by the location of the building and how dirty the roof gets. We recommend the use of a mild detergent solution and soft cloths. We do not recommend the use of abrasive cleaning pads or scourers.
It is important to observe any recommendations from the applicator/manufacturer of any architectural finish such as polyester powder paint or similar to avoid damaging the surface finish, but generally their advice is in line with that given above. The use of hosepipes or jet washers are not recommended as it is likely gaskets and or seals will be disturbed resulting in permanent damage and leaks not just during the cleaning process, but by rain in the future.

Click here to download the Cleaning and Maintenance Manual and Check List