BUILDINGS, MAINTENANCE & REFURBISHMENT
Are your school’s sports and activity floors safe to use?
W
hen a sports, dance or multi-purpose hall floor nears the end of its life there are usually some clear indications that the time has arrived to replace it. Vinyl and linoleum floors may suffer from splits, failed seams and require a regular stream of costly repairs. Timber floors can suffer damage and may have been sanded to the maximum number of times (usually twice for an engineered wood floor and eight to ten times for a solid hardwood surface).
Comment by RICHARD AYLEN Technical Manager, Junckers Ltd
However, there may be more going on than can be seen with the naked eye. As a floor becomes older it is important to be aware of some hidden aspects of the floor’s performance to ensure that it remains safe to use and accidents are to be avoided.
One invisible change that can happen is a loss of slip resistance due to wear and tear, which can lead to injuries resulting from slips and falls. A properly maintained wooden floor will be periodically resealed, ensuring the slip resistance is restored when the new lacquer is applied. It is important the lacquer has the correct slip resistance (not all of them do), namely it must comply with the requirements of EN 14904.
Vinyl and polyurethane surfaces can also benefit from re-coating, and this is gaining attention because it is a way of keeping non-recyclable and unsustainable floors in use for longer, delaying the time when they will need to be disposed of. Recoating is done with modern water-based polyurethane products which again can be selected
to provide the right level of slip resistance for sports and other activities.
Another less visible aspect of floor failure is fatigue to the undercarriage supporting the floor, creating the risk of the floor deck breaking, or partial collapsing. Early signs may be “soft spots” and areas where it bounces or creaks excessively. The risks are increased where the supplier uses materials from multiple sources as quality may vary and they may not have been fully tested in combination with one another. You can sometimes spot these suppliers at design stage by the fact that they are reluctant to publish detailed specifications for their floor systems.
With a solid hardwood floor, the floorboards are made entirely from the same material, rather than several layers of wood found in an engineered floorboard. Whilst solid wood floors have fewer potential points of failure than other types there is still the same need to ensure a detailed specification exists for the full system. Activity floors will usually comply with EN 14904 which provides a safe surface, including slip resistance, shock absorption and surface deformation. The DfE requires all activity floors in England in new and refurbished schools to comply with EN 14904 category A3 or A4. Sometimes it is possible to upgrade an older “hard as concrete” floor by over-laying it with a thin profile sprung system floor such as Junckers Clip system, where the hardwood floorboards are laid on a 10mm thick foam underlay to provide the right amount of shock absorption.
Bridging the RAAC buildings gap T
By Jason Lynock, Sales Director, Smart-Space
he RAAC fiasco isn’t going away overnight. The issue of having school premises that are not fit for purpose can’t be resolved with a quick fix. However, with the pressing priority of getting students back to a safe teaching environment, a temporary building might be your best short-term solution. As we now know, RAAC has a troubling legacy – it’s a lightweight construction material that has been found to be unstable and subject to sudden collapse. As a result, some schools face closure and others a
partial shut-down as they start to consider repairs or entirely new buildings in the face of school safety. For the 150+ UK schools affected by the issues related to the inadequacies of RAAC it’s certain that most won’t have been prepared for this. Planning, funding and practicalities are high on the agenda. And still the students need somewhere to learn.
Planning a new school build or significant repair involves assessments, scoping and researching – and the complex requirement to work with multiple stakeholders. Installing a temporary building takes away any immediate pressures and creates some space to teach in whilst working out the most effective way to navigate this situation.
Our ‘back-to-school’ solution delivers immediate respite to minimise disruption and lost teaching days. As the UK’s leading temporary building supplier, we have a wealth of experience in emergency builds within a school
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www.education-today.co.uk October 2023
environment. We recognise that educational institutions require all kinds of spaces to accommodate different activities, and we’re here to guide and assist you with choosing the perfect building specific to your needs. Our team at Smart-Space is experienced in working on-site with gold standard health and safety focus at all times. We have delivered buildings to schools in many emergency situations and are skilled at working quickly and effectively to make sure you have what you need, right now. Off-hiring is easy and can be activated with just 7 days’ notice.
With our temporary buildings, you can rest assured that your students will have a proven, safe and immediate learning environment while your long- term solutions are being considered and implemented.
uwww.smart-space.co.uk
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