Cladding remediation has become one of the defining construction challenges of recent years. Across the country thousands of buildings are undergoing assessment, repair and replacement works. Much of the conversation understandably centres on fire safety, materials, regulation and cost.
Yet there is another side to remediation that rarely receives the same level of attention - the lived experience of the residents who remain in those buildings while the work takes place.
For many leaseholders and tenants, remediation can stretch on for months and sometimes years. During that time buildings are often surrounded by standard scaffolding and protective sheeting. The intention is straightforward enough. Contractors need a controlled environment to carry out the work safely.
Although the practical reasoning is clear, the experience for residents can be very different.
When a building is wrapped in traditional scaffold and full shrouding, natural light can disappear almost overnight. Windows that once looked out onto daylight suddenly face layers of metal poles and opaque covering. Day after day the interior of a home can feel darker and more enclosed than before.
Alongside this comes the noise, vibration and general disruption that inevitably accompanies major construction work. For people working from home, families with young children or residents who spend much of their time indoors, the psychological impact of that environment can be significant.
This Friday on Cladding Matters, the discussion turns to a subject that is often treated purely as a construction decision, although it clearly has wider consequences - the type of access system used during remediation.
Joining the panel will be Rob Munns, Head of Sales at BFT Mastclimbing, bringing insight into an alternative approach that is already widely used across parts of the construction sector.
Mast climbing platforms operate quite differently from traditional scaffolding. Instead of building a full external scaffold structure around a building, mechanical platforms travel vertically on masts fixed to the structure. Contractors work from those platforms as they move up and down the façade.
The practical advantages are often highlighted within the industry. Mast climbing systems can be quicker to erect and dismantle, require fewer materials on site, and in many cases allow work to progress more efficiently along the building elevation resulting in significant cost savings as a result. They can also offer strong safety benefits for operatives working at height.
There is another element that may be equally important when remediation takes place in occupied buildings.
Because mast climbing platforms do not require full scaffold structures or heavy shrouding around the entire building, residents are often able to retain far more natural light within their homes. The visual sense of being enclosed can be reduced, and the building itself is not permanently wrapped behind layers of sheeting.
When remediation can last many months, sometimes longer, that difference could matter a great deal to the people living inside the building.
It raises a broader point for discussion. If mast climbing systems can offer advantages in speed, safety, cost and resident experience, why do traditional scaffolding methods still dominate so many remediation projects?
Is it simply industry habit? A matter of familiarity for contractors and project managers? Or are there structural barriers in procurement, insurance or design that make change slower than many would expect?
The Government updated their ‘Code of Practice for the remediation of residential buildings’ which included “aiming to reduce traditional scaffold usage”. However this is not legislation and merely advisory of best practice which many contractors choose to ignore
These are the kinds of issues that will be explored on this week's programme.
As always, Gareth Wax will be in the chair, joined by Hamish McLay and Stephen Day, with Rob Munns bringing practical insight from the construction side of the discussion.
Remediation is often spoken about in terms of regulations, programmes and technical solutions. Yet for the people living in these buildings, the experience of the works themselves can shape daily life for a long time.
Sometimes the details that receive the least attention turn out to have the greatest impact.
This Friday’s Cladding Matters takes a closer look at one of those details - the scaffolding choice that very few people talk about, although thousands of residents live with it every day.
Watch live on the Spilling the Proper-Tea YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SpillingTheProper-Tea
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