Specifiers and contractors must understand how CDM 2015 should affect their moveable wall selection

2017-09-26

Style is advising architects and specifiers to consider carefully how CDM 2015 should influence their choice of moveable wall system.

According to David Louden, Style’s director for Scotland, CDM responsibilities, not cost, should be at the heart of the decision making process.

Not only do all parties have a responsibility to ensure that the construction phase of the project can be completed safely, but equally important is to make it possible to operate and maintain the building with the least amount of risk.

“The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations are the main set of regulations for managing health, safety and welfare on construction projects, and these regulations underpin all aspects of our business,” explains David.

“A good example of their importance is in a recent installation at Clyde campus in Glasgow, where the design brief was to sub divide a large multipurpose space. At a height of 7.5 metres and an acoustic rating of 57dB the panels would each weigh in excess of 700kg. Working with the architects at Glasgow City Council, Style selected a system manufactured by DORMA.

“The DORMA Variflex system is assembled on site making it safe to install from a manual handling perspective and it was to be supported by DORMA’s new programmable I-track system. This track with switches and curves allows panels to be easily moved into position without risk to the operator. (See video)

“Some moveable wall solutions use aluminium track with 90-degree corner units, and these corners present a point of impact if the system is used incorrectly. This point of impact at a height of 7.5 metres is not immediately obvious to the operator and if the damage was to go unseen can lead to structural failure with catastrophic consequences.

“We therefore installed DORMA’s curved I-track system which replaces the 90 degree with a gentle curve, enabling the kinetic energy from each panel to assist in changing the direction of the panel into and out of its parking location. No point of impact and no risk to the operator.

“In addition to the curved track the Variflex system was specified with semi-automatic seals to reduce the effort in relocating the wall and to speed up the process of space reconfiguration”.

Full details and photos of this project can be found on our case studies pages.

A CITB guide to CDM 2015 for Contractors can be found here

For more information, contact your nearest regional Style office