Balustrading Solutions offers a complete design, supply and installation service for their factory-assembled handrail and balustrade systems. Installation is the final stage in the process and, by adopting the best principles of supply chain management and using specialist fixing teams, Balustrading Solutions ensures that the final installation is in strict accordance with the original design.

All installations are built to order based on the original site measurements taken by our survey team, or from architects’ drawings. Following the preparation and client approval of Balustrading Solutions’s production drawings, the handrails and balustrades are fabricated to the agreed measurements, using stock components.

To minimise on-site work, as many components as possible are assembled in the factory and supplied individually packed and wrapped to site to avoid damage. This method ensures that no cutting, bending or measurement of handrails and the balustrade structure is required on site. This means that there is less on-site assembly and overall installation time is reduced.

Once the uprights and rails are in place, checks are made to ensure that line and level are correct before finally securing the uprights. Uprights, connectors and infill panel holders are secured using an Allen Key, with the screw head tucked into the upright to ensure a smooth, hidden connection. A protective covering is left on the handrails to provide protection against damage if other building work is being carried out in the building.

When the balustrade uprights and top rails are fixed, infill panel templates are produced to ensure that the panels are manufactured to accurate sizes. The panels are produced off-site, then brought to site to be fitted into the balustrade quickly and easily using the clamps previously fixed to the uprights. Alternatively, panels can be made available for installation at the same time as the balustrade rail components, saving time in the overall programme. ‘In-line’ infill panels are secured with 4 clamps, top and bottom, each side; ‘offset’ infill panels, by ‘screw-stud’ panel holders, top and bottom.

When all is complete and no further damage is likely to occur, the protective covering on the handrails and balustrade is removed.

 The benefits of Balustrading Solutions’s component-based system

• Having a stock of key components ensures quick delivery and the fact that the majority of the assembly is carried out in the factory ensures a speedy installation once on site.
• The finished product is aesthetically superior to one that is made up on site because there are no unsightly welds, no sharp edges or angles, no deformation of bends and no grinding is necessary.
• A consistent finish is obtained within an individual installation and the same appearance is guaranteed in projects throughout the UK.
• The installation is sustainable as, at the end of the life of the building, all components are recyclable.