Rope access is the most efficient inspection method for structures where standard access is disproportionate, impractical or unsafe. A properly trained rope access team can inspect elements that would otherwise require scaffold, MEWP under-bridge units, cherry pickers or elaborate temporary works. The cost differential is significant, the programme differential more so, and the safety record of the discipline is well established when delivered by qualified operatives to industry standards.
CRS delivers rope access inspection using IRATA Level 3 rope access operatives held in-house. IRATA (the Industrial Rope Access Trade Association) sets the recognised industry standard for rope access work in the UK, with Level 3 being the most senior qualification. A Level 3 operative can supervise a rope access team, plan the operations, rescue colleagues from ropes if required, and take responsibility for the safety of the whole rope access operation on site.
The applications where rope access inspection makes commercial sense span a wide range. High-rise residential and commercial façade inspection. Bridge inspection where under-bridge access is difficult or requires significant possession. Industrial structure inspection including chimneys, silos, storage tanks, gantries and elevated plant. Chimney, tower and spire inspection on heritage and modern buildings. Roof-level and parapet inspection. Any elevated element where physical close-quarters access delivers better information than standing-off inspection.
The commercial case is often compelling. A three-person rope access team can inspect the external envelope of a residential block in one to three days, delivering close-quarters coverage that would take one to two weeks of scaffold installation, one to two weeks of inspection, and then scaffold dismantling. There is no scaffold licence required from the local authority, no highway closure for scaffold erection, and residents are not overlooked for weeks by shrouding of the elevation. For inspection work, the case for rope access over scaffold is often self-evident once presented.
Rope access inspection is delivered as a discipline in its own right, and integrated into wider inspection deliverables where the scope requires it. A rope access team can inspect the façade and identify defects on day one, then return with follow-on repair operatives (or repair operatives who are also rope-qualified) to deliver the works. The continuity between inspection and delivery on ropes is one of the key operational advantages of CRS as a rope access repair contractor.