Safety and Structural Inspections of Existing Climbing Walls

All current CWMA member companies can carry out both 'wall safety inspections' and 'full structural inspections' on any existing climbing wall. Very often, climbing wall operators do not know the full history of their climbing walls, particularly if the structure is quite old, or under new management. In cases such as this, an inspection of the wall by a qualified person can provide valuable piece of mind, and provide an insight into any remedial work that may need to be carried out to prolong the structures working life, or to bring the wall up to current safety standards.

Climbing walls should receive a full structural safety inspection at intervals recommended by the manufacturers. These inspections should be carried out by a qualified structural engineer. Experience has shown us that the most suitable engineers to carry out such inspections are those who design climbing walls. These engineers not only know the intricacies of a climbing walls structural design, but are also used to working at height in order to carry out inspections of such structures. All CWMA members have structural engineers who can carry out this work in a professional and unbiased way.

Safety inspections of a climbing structure include examination of all the fixtures and fitting on the climbing wall surface, including in-situ maillons, quickdraws, belay points, lower-offs, bolt hangers, security of wall panels, etc. This sort of inspection is reasonably inexpensive and quick, and can be carried out by qualified staff members of CWMA companies.

Structural inspections can be very difficult to carry out effectively. Inspections carried out by CWMA companies are undertaken by an experienced staff member trained to identify problems, as well as a qualified structural engineer. These inspections can take a day or more to complete (dependant on wall size), and are fairly expensive. However, this sort of survey of your climbing wall will highlight any potential problems, and provide piece of mind.

Both types of inspections are fully documented, and customers are provided with a full written report of the surveys. If you are interested in learning more about this service, please contact CWMA companies direct through our Links.

Contact the CWMA office with any other enquiries or questions