Three roofs and a curved feature roof, surveyed over a working hotel
A hotel beside the stadium at Reading was surveyed for a proposed solar PV installation. Three roofs plus a curved feature roof were assessed by drone, with the building occupied and nobody put on a roof that was judged unsafe to walk.
What the project needed.
An occupied hotel cannot absorb scaffolding, and these roofs could not safely be walked. The report says so plainly: given the age and material of the coverings it was judged unsafe to carry out walkarounds without propping and proper access provision. That decision governs how the survey is done, because the alternative is either a survey nobody can stand behind or an access cost out of all proportion to the question being asked.
Work carried out
- Roof condition survey of three roofs plus a curved feature roof
- 4K quadcopter drone survey, full aerial reconnaissance
- Desktop study, historical mapping and listed building records
- Location review and risk assessment before attendance
- Drone insurance, operator and flyer identification verified
- Covering condition, defects and detailing recorded per roof
- Photographic record organised by roof area
- Panel fixing installation summary appended
What voco hotel, reading actually involves.
The curved roof is the part that makes this building awkward. A curved covering behaves differently from a flat or pitched one for drainage, for fixing and for wind, and it was added to the survey scope at revision A rather than being assumed to be like the rest. Reporting on it separately is what makes the assessment usable.
The survey ran to a defined method rather than turning up and looking. A desktop study came first, covering client information, online sources, historical mapping, dated Google Earth review and listed building records, then a location review and risk assessment before anyone attended.
Drone operation was evidenced rather than claimed. Insurances and the operator and flyer identifications were verified before flying, the aircraft was flown at safe distances from obstacles and the public, and flights were subject to weather and to not disturbing wildlife. On an occupied commercial site those are the conditions that make the survey possible at all.
The building was occupied throughout. Nothing was closed, no guest access was affected, and the roofs were assessed from the air with the hotel trading.
On site.
The hotel from the air, including the curved feature roof assessed separately from the rest.
Voco Hotel, Reading
Roof condition report covering each roof area separately, with a photographic appendix per roof and a panel fixing installation summary.
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