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Diagnostech Designs and Oversees Enormous Roof Replacement Project for Major Industrial Estate in Sydney
In 2017, Diagnostech were engaged by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) to design and oversee the works for a major roofing replacement project at City Close Industrial Estate located at 37 O’Riordan Street, Alexandria in Sydney.
The three buildings that make up the industrial estate had been plagued by water leaks for many years, but a severe hail storm left the owner with no other option but to have the entire roofing system replaced.
Here’s how Diagnostech worked together with the client and contractor to complete this enormous project.
Situation
Before this project, the three industrial buildings that make up the City Close Industrial Estate had a long history of water leakages that had caused major frustrations for the commercial tenants.
In 2016, a major hail storm severely damaged the roof. This led to an independent assessment being carried out, and consequently, a successful insurance claim to have all the roofing replaced across all three buildings.
Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), clients of Diagnostech for more than 20 years, engaged Senior Building Consultants, Dennis Stephenson and David Chan, to design and oversee the industrial estate’s roof replacement project.
This meant Diagnostech would act as client-side Project Manager, in charge of all technical oversight and communication with the contractor, CJ Duncan.
Of course, when it comes to industrial projects, we understand that the two most common elements typically in need of remediation are roofing and flooring – and maintaining these elements is key to keeping commercial tenants satisfied.
What’s more, this particular area in Alexandria is home to many large brands, with notable tenants of the 2-storey City Close Industrial Estate including Polestar, Koala Mattresses and Mercedes Benz.
This meant that getting this project right the first time would be absolutely critical to the ongoing successful operation of this industrial estate.
Goals
Understandably, the overarching goal of this project was to replace the damaged roof of the industrial estate.
However, there was also a unique opportunity to improve the roof design to help overcome the pre-existing waterproofing and drainage issues as well.
Furthermore, while conducting initial investigations, Diagnostech’s Senior Building Consultants discovered that the roof had been insulated using synthetic mineral fibres – a material that’s no longer used due to the dangers it presents if the fibres are inhaled.
This meant that the goal was suitably adjusted to also include the replacement of all insulation with a safer material, as well as the improvement of the roof’s drainage system.
Challenges
As with working in and around any live industrial estate, several challenges had to be navigated in order to complete this large project.
First and foremost, it was important to ensure minimal disruption to all offices and factories within the complex, including their workers.
As part of this, we also had to make sure that there was no possibility of exposure to dangerous synthetic mineral fibres, particularly as the old insulation was removed from the roof.
Naturally, with so many large commercial tenants in the one area, this made the logistics of this project extremely difficult.
Solution
To help ensure minimal disruption, the decision was made together with the contractor that the majority of work would take place on weekends and outside of normal business hours.
The works also had to be planned accordingly so that each section of the roof that was removed could be replaced on the same day or night.
This meant that the contractor had to go in the night before to apply several key measures to help protect stock and workspaces from the elements, falling debris and mineral fibres.
The next day, the roof would then be safely stripped, removed, insulated and replaced before the protection was taken down again.
The surrounding area would then be decontaminated to ensure there was no dust left from the synthetic mineral fibres before workers could safely return to their office or factory.
Results
Having begun in July 2017, the project was completed in December of the same year.
With the new design of the building’s roof, not only did the City Close Industrial Estate receive a brand-new roof, but they also got a completely reconfigured drainage system that corrected the inherent water leakage issues that had previously plagued each building.
As a result, the estate’s owner and commercial tenants received a new roof with much greater integrity at no additional cost to the insurer – a genuine win-win for everyone.
