Roof oversheeting and solar assessment across eight industrial roofs
Eight roofs across a working brick factory were assessed for oversheeting and solar PV. Three were passed for the proposed loading. Five were not, and the report said so.
What the project needed.
The operator wanted to oversheet and put solar PV on a live manufacturing site. The question was not whether the loading was acceptable in principle, but whether each individual roof was in a condition to carry it. Those are different questions and only the second one is answered by looking at the actual structure.
Work carried out
- Structural assessment of eight separate roof areas
- Condition assessment per roof
- Wind and snow loading to the Eurocodes and BS 6399
- Justification of panels for gravity loading
- Justification of panels for uplift loading
- Separate conclusion recorded for each roof
What wienerberger, tamworth actually involves.
Each of the eight roofs was assessed on its own and given its own conclusion. The calculated loads for oversheeting and PV sat within acceptable design limits, so the governing factor was the condition of each existing roof rather than the added load itself.
Roofs 1, 2 and 3 were found structurally sound and able to carry the oversheeting and PV within the defined loading parameters. Roofs 4 to 8 were not. Between them they showed corrosion, heat damage, deformation and timber replacements that did not comply, and the report set out that further testing and remedial work were needed before any additional load went on.
Passing five roofs would have been the easier answer and it would have been wrong. On a live industrial site the cost of finding that out after installation falls on the operator, and an assessment that only ever confirms what the client hoped to hear is not worth commissioning.
Uplift matters as much as gravity on an industrial roof. Panels change the wind regime over the sheeting and the fixings, and a roof that carries the dead weight without difficulty can still fail at its fixings. Both cases were justified separately for every roof.
On site.
Aerial survey of the works. Eight roof areas were assessed separately.
Wienerberger, Tamworth
699 page assessment covering eight roofs, each with its own condition assessment, gravity and uplift justification and conclusion.
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