HVAC Access Plant Decks, Platforms and Screens

What is a Plant Deck?

A plant deck is an aluminium platform designed to provide access to heavy machinery, HVAC systems, and other equipment on rooftops or within industrial facilities, ensuring height safety during installation and maintenance.

These decks provide a safe and stable surface for the installation and maintenance of equipment, ensuring efficient operation and easy access for technicians.

These equipment platforms are engineered to evenly distribute the weight of HVAC and other heavy equipment, preventing excessive load on the roof structure while ensuring safe and stable support for long-term performance.

When Does Your Facility Require a Plant Deck?

+ Supporting Heavy Equipment

Facilities that need to install heavy machinery, such as HVAC systems, generators, cold storages, large solar panels systems, or any large industrial equipment, benefit significantly from plant decks and platforms. These fixed platforms are engineered to support substantial loads, ensuring the stability and safety of the equipment, ensuring free airflow, and sound isolation when required.

+ Improving Accessibility

Fixed roof decks provide easy and safe access to equipment, facilitating regular maintenance, inspections, and repairs. This is especially important in facilities where equipment is installed at height or in hard-to-reach areas.

+ Enhancing Safety

By providing a stable working surface, plant decks enhance roof safety access and height safety, reducing the risk of accidents and injuries on-site. They often include features like guardrails, non-slip surfaces, walkways, screens and secure access points and rooftop gates, ensuring a safe working environment for maintenance workers.

Some plant decks and platforms require doors and stairs for enhanced access and security, providing safe entry points to enclosed areas or elevated equipment.

We assess every HVAC system, air conditioning, colling towers and other rooftop equipment and building design to recommend the most efficient and compliant system for your site and roof. This ensures not only safety, but also compliance with relevant regulations, creating an optimal and secure environment.

+ Organising Space

Plant decks help in organising and optimising the available space, especially on rooftops. By elevating equipment, they free up valuable ground space for other uses, reduce clutter and provide even surface for roof safety access.

+ Compliance with Regulations

Many safety and building regulations require the installation of plant decks for specific types of equipment. Ensuring compliance with these safety regulations is essential for the safety and legality of your operations.

+ HVAC Noise reduction

Plant Platforms with louvre screens provide an acoustic barrier to isolate HVAC and any other equipment and machinery noise while maintaining a free airflow.

Plant Platforms with Custom Finishes

At Safetylyne, we offer plant platforms with a variety of finishes and colours to match your building's aesthetic needs. Whether you’re after bright or dark tones, our platforms can be customised to complement the overall look of your structure.

Roof Plant Platforms Screen Variations

Our platforms are available with various types of screen variations including batten screens and louvre screens.

• Batten screens

These screens provide ventilation and partial screening for plant equipment, ensuring the machinery is well-ventilated while maintaining a sleek, functional appearance.

• Louvre screens

Featuring angled slats, these screens offer more discreet coverage while allowing for controlled airflow. This design is perfect for those looking to conceal equipment and isolate the noise without compromising ventilation.

How Louvre Screens Enhance Sound Isolation

Noise Reduction with Custom Louvre Screens for HVAC and Industrial Equipment.

Louvre screens are an ideal solution for reducing noise from rooftop and industrial equipment, such as HVAC units, generators, air conditioning systems, exhaust fans etc.

Their angled slats are specifically designed to block and redirect sound waves, providing effective sound isolation without sacrificing airflow. This helps create a quieter environment around your building, reducing the impact of operational noise on surrounding areas like offices, residential buildings, and public spaces.

In addition to HVAC systems, louvre screens are also effective in reducing noise from other equipment, including cooling towers, air compressors, pumps, and industrial machinery.

These screens act as a sound barrier, mitigating the noise pollution that can affect employees, nearby residents, or neighbouring businesses. By diffusing and deflecting sound, and creating an acoustic barrier, louvre screens ensure that operational noise is kept to a minimum while maintaining ventilation and system efficiency.

At Safetylyne, we offer custom louvre screens designed to optimise sound isolation for your specific needs. Whether you're looking to reduce noise from HVAC systems or other rooftop equipment, our louvre screens maintain efficient airflow while providing a highly effective noise control solution. This ensures a balance between practicality and sound reduction, enhancing both functionality and comfort for your building.

Ensuring Safety and Compliance:

The Essential Standards for Plant Decks and Platforms in Australia

When it comes to plant decks and platforms in Australia, compliance with relevant standards and regulations is critical to ensuring both safety and functionality. The design, construction, and installation of plant platforms must adhere to several key Australian standards to guarantee they meet the necessary structural and safety requirements.

Relevant Standards for Plant Decks and Platforms

+ AS 1657 – Fixed platforms, walkways, stairways, and ladders:
This standard outlines the design requirements for safe access to plant and equipment on platforms, walkways, and stairways. It specifies the correct dimensions, guardrails, and other safety measures required to prevent falls and ensure stable access.

+ AS/NZS 1170 – Structural design actions:
This set of standards provides guidelines for the structural design of plant decks and platforms, particularly concerning load capacity and wind actions. It ensures that platforms can support the necessary weight while withstanding environmental factors like wind loads and vibrations.

+ AS/NZS 1891 – Industrial fall-arrest systems and devices:
If plant platforms are located in high areas, this standard applies to the use of fall protection equipment, ensuring that appropriate anchor points and fall-arrest systems are installed where necessary.

+ AS 4100 – Steel Structures & AS 1664 – Aluminium Structures:
These standards set out the structural requirements for platforms made from steel and aluminium, respectively, ensuring that materials are used appropriately to withstand environmental conditions and load requirements.

+ National Construction Code (NCC):
The NCC sets out the broader regulatory framework for all types of construction, including plant platforms. It incorporates standards related to safety, durability, and structural integrity, ensuring that platforms comply with building codes and regulations.

Visit the Regulations and Guidelines page for detailed information on roof safety and to learn more about compliance with Australian Standards.

At Safetylyne, all our plant platforms and decks are designed and installed in compliance with these standards to ensure the highest level of safety and structural integrity.

We also provide comprehensive audits and advice on meeting these standards during the design and installation phases, ensuring that your facility is compliant and secure for ongoing maintenance and operations.

Choose Australian-made compliant HVAC Platforms with Safetylyne

At Safetylyne, we specialise in the design, manufacture, and installation of durable, custom-made plant decks.

We manufacture all access systems at our warehouse to reduce working time on site for a quick and seamless installation process.

Safetylyne plant decks are engineered to provide safe and efficient support for your equipment,  enhancing the overall functionality and safety of your facility.

With a decade of industry experience, we are committed to delivering high-quality solutions tailored to your specific needs.

Contact our Roof Safety experts today to get your access solved.