Safe up and down with the construction elevator

The range of construction lifts is large: It ranges from a simple ladder lift, in which an (electro) motor drive drives something up in a transport frame, to compact rope lifts for tradesmen and transport platforms, to people and material lifts with a load capacity of several tons and possible delivery heights up to 400 m. Whether new construction or renovation, scaffolding or facade work: all materials and / or people find their way up safely and effortlessly with the help of a construction elevator. The quick assembly makes the construction hoist profitable even at low heights. A wide variety of designs, variants and load suspension devices such as universal or wooden platforms, tipping buckets or rubble troughs are available to safely move building materials onto the roof. Construction lifts for the pure material transport cover load capacities up to 500 kg depending on the provider and are the ideal partner for scaffolding and general roof work. If you want to transport people as well as materials, transport platforms are the first choice.

Hoist

Material Hoists
The smallest variant of a construction hoist and, to a certain extent, the forefather of this species is the ladder lift: a standard ladder based on the building is used - first by hand, later with motor support - to pull material up with a rope or chain. The latest solution, recently introduced by Geda, is the battery ladder lift - an elevator for transporting a wide variety of materials that works wirelessly thanks to battery technology. Here, a winch transports material up to 10 kg up to 10 m above a ladder system. Set up by just one person in less than five minutes, this model with a 24 V / 10 Ah Li-Ion battery drive transports from 0 to 15 m / min at the push of a button - controlled by a radio remote control; WLAN control via mobile phone app is also possible.

epending on the provider, there are also conveyor baskets, bucket carriers, cable pots, swivel arm brackets, special load platforms and the like. The lifts are available in different sizes, the lightest can be attached to almost any car as trailer versions. Take the Toplight21 inclined elevator model from Klaas, for example, which only weighs 750 kg and has a head of 21 m. Buckles ensure optimal adjustments to the roof pitch. Inclined lifts, which are mainly used for roof work, are usually equipped with supports made of solid steel, which ensure good stability. Other manufacturers such as Geda also have inclined lift variants (Geda Lift) that are especially suitable for roof work.

If you want to transport people as well as material, the so-called transport platforms are recommended. They can be flexibly adapted to the conditions on site thanks to a variety of different platform variants, load capacities and delivery heights and, thanks to separate controls, can be used either as a construction hoist for the pure material transport or just as a transport platform for people and material. If construction site use requires a closed cabin, there are also suitable solutions - for example models from the Geda Multilift or PH series. The versatile all-rounders, which are no longer based on a simple ladder or rope principle, but are anchored to the scaffolding or facade with stable masts and driven by a rack,

They are available with various safety devices such as speed-dependent safety gear, safety stop and overload cut-off. These powerful rack and pinion lifts also impress with their small footprint and great stability. According to the manufacturer Böcker, the compact Super-Lift rack series with minimum installation dimensions (1.40 x 0.85 m) is particularly suitable for cramped construction site situations; it takes up little space and can also be swiveled by 90 degrees.

Scaffolding and individual platforms

In the absence of a permanent work plan that is secure or that can be equipped with temporary collective protections, non-mechanized temporary equipment (individual platforms, rolling scaffolding and foot scaffolding) provide collective protection for access and work. in height.

Scaffolding

In many cases, scaffolding can meet a safety objective when it comes to working at height. However, depending on the design and / or use of the equipment itself, there may be a risk during assembly and disassembly. Obligations and rules for safe use must be observed.


Temporary Stairways
A scaffold is "work equipment, composed of elements temporarily mounted in order to constitute work stations at height and allowing access to these stations as well as the delivery of products and materials necessary for the performance of the work »(Definition given in the decree of December 21, 2004 / article 1) .These equipments are subject to certain design rules (stability, admissible load, railings, floors, means of access…) or use (training users in particular).

A distinction is usually made between (fixed) foot scaffolding, rolling scaffolding and console scaffolding.

Choice of material
The choice of equipment must result from an analysis of needs (nature and duration of the work, staggered working heights to be served on the structure, etc.) and constraints (linked to the environment in general and to the building on which one must intervene in particular, with the roadway, with the nature of the ground…).

The conformity of the selected material with the minimum requirements of solidity, stability and security is evaluated with reference to the standards which relate to it. We preferentially retain equipment whose manufacture benefits from the right to use the NF mark "Site equipment", when it applies to the family concerned. The NF mark not only attests to compliance with standards, but takes into account, in the additional specifications of the standard, the requirements of the regulations and the recommendations of prevention organizations.

Foot scaffolding (fixed)
The foot scaffolding are systems prefabricated components that can respond to requests for use for large-scale projects and long-term, requiring workstations at height and allowing access to these positions and routing equipment necessary for carrying out the work.


They can be of 2 types:

frame systems, especially suitable for the construction of facade scaffolding,
multidirectional / multilevel systems, which can lend themselves to the production of more complex structures, particularly in an industrial environment.

The compliance of foot scaffolding systems with the minimum requirements of solidity, stability and security is assessed by reference to several standards (NF EN 12810-1, NF EN 12810-2, NF EN 12811-1, NF EN 12811 -2, NF EN 12811-3). Foot scaffolding falls within the scope of the NF Site Equipment mark. The additional requirements of the standard include the requirement that the certified models have at least one configuration for safe mounting and dismounting (MDS).


So-called tube and fitting scaffolding is no longer likely to meet current regulatory requirements.


Different types of individual rolling platforms

Individual light rolling platforms (PIRL): weighing less than 50 kg, they offer a working platform whose height can go up to 1.50 m and dimensions up to 0.80 m × 1.00 m. Compact in the folded position, they pass through openings and stairs which makes them particularly suitable for small interior works.
Individual rolling platforms (PIR): they offer a working platform whose height can reach 2.50 m and the dimensions 0.80 m × 1.50 m. Their stability is higher than that of PIRLs. They said "portable" when their mass does not exceed 50 kg, which is the case with the vast majority of equipment offered on the market. In addition, their use requires lifting means for their handling which reserves them for structural work, outdoors.