Curtain walling

A detailed study of the various types of window cleaning installations is beyond the scope of this section. However, there are matters that need to be considered in conjunction with cladding design.

For buildings over 30m in height, a fixed installation is generally essential, but cradles will need additional attachment points such as slotted mullions, button guides, tie bolts or pins.

Typical maintenance standards for curtain walling demand cleaning of the metalwork up to 5 times a year. However, most installations are suitable in conditions where windspeed does not exceed 12m/sec. While this condition may be fine at ground level, conditions may be very different at upper stories in a tall building. If it takes 5 to 10 days to access all parts it is unlikely that weather conditions will be favourable on this number of days on 5 occasions throughout the year, so maintenance and inspection provisions may be compromised.

Roller wave distortions in toughened glass

Cladding systems must be cleaned regularly to prevent deterioration. Specialist cleaning may help to improve the finish on this colour coating but it is probably too far gone to be restored to its original condition.