Access for equipment and service vehicles

Plants in buildings need to be maintained to keep them looking their best.  In commercial buildings, this is often a service that is carried out by a specialist contractor although some large hotels and shopping centres employ their own staff.

Plant maintenance personnel use a variety of equipment and they need to be able to transport it to the building and within the building.

For small plant displays, the equipment used can be easily carried on the person and as long as there is a water supply to fill watering cans, no additional provision will be required.

However, for larger sites where there are large numbers of plants or big built-in plant features, access becomes more important.

Vehicles

The types of vehicle used by plant maintenance contractors tend to be small or medium-sized vans, similar to many city delivery vehicles.  As well as carrying service equipment, they will also be carrying plants and materials such as compost.  Specialist load handling equipment is not normally required for plant maintenance (although it may be for installation purposes - see module 5 for more details).

Equipment

The transport of water around a building is often the biggest issue for plant maintenance personnel.  Water is heavy and potentially very messy, so it must be transported safely or be made available at points close to the plant displays.  Remember, a full watering can might weigh as much as 10 kg.  It is important, therefore, to consider whether it is possible to fill the watering can without having to lift, twist or otherwise strain the body - something that is often not possible if water from a kitchen or a washroom is used. It should also be remembered that even small plants in containers may require several litres of water to be given to them at any one time.  This means that a typical watering can may only hold enough water for 3 or 4 plants. An office with 15 plants may require 40 - 50 litres to be given to the plants at any one time, which means a mass of 40 - 50 kg needs to be handled. Trolleys carrying watering cans or special water bowsers are often used to carry such volumes of water.  These are narrow enough to fit through standard doors and into lifts (elevators), but they cannot be used in areas where there are stairs, or even shallow steps.

In modern buildings, this is seldom a problem.  Buildings designed to cater for the needs of wheelchair users will be ideal as ramps and lifts will be in place.

More information on the health and safety implications of interior landscaping can be found in module 4: health, safety and the environment.