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One of our signs has been blown down
Traveling to work today we saw a chimney pot on the side of the road.
We commented on there must be quite a few signs blown over and my Husband mentioned a large hanging sign he and my stepson had put up just before Christmas, hoping it was OK.
OMG, the hotel that hanging sign belonged too, rang about 11am, the sign had broken and fell to the ground, the hotel is right in the middle of the towns main shopping centre. There must have been quite a few people about, but very luckily it hit no one and made no damage apart to the sign.
The part where the sign was bolted on to the wall bracket gave way.
I`ve been in shock most of the day, on how lucky we are it could have killed some poor soul.
The fault was with the manufacture of the sign, we just bought in and fitted graphics to it and fixed to the wall… just thanking God no one was hurt.
Hope no one falls foul to the weather.
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10 Replies
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Denise,
I feel your pain. About a year ago I installed a 6x9metre (18 x27ft) sign on 9m long I-beams.
The job was for a lawyer who was developing a housing estate……
Fortunately, I submitted detailed drawings of the structure, which was approved by his engineers! About 6months after installing, we had 140 kph winds blowing. The 4 I-beam legs of the sign bent like spaghetty……
The client phoned me a couple of days later, after a picture of the downed sign made front page news in the largest dayly newspaper in the country, telling me that the sign blew down (DUH!!), but he realises it was "an act of God, and how much will you charge to repair?"
Talk about breathing a sigh of relieve! 2 cranes, a bulldozer and a grader later, the sign is upright again. With an additional 6 cubic metres of concrete, and some braided stainless steel anchor cables!
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hanging signs (and projecting signs) do tend to be the ones that get damaged in these winds.
Another angle of argument will be what was recommended or what the customer specified
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As Gert says, ‘act of god’, that’s what your and their insurance will say, thats what you say!
when I build a sign I always over engineer the fitting of it (just a habit), it’ll withstand your average force 6/30,ph windy weather just fine but, 60mph or more and gusting 10-20mph higher? what can you do?
I am quite pleased that the 8m x 2.5m banner i fitted to an industrial unit is still there after not just the recent weather but also the storm we had in september too, it’s a tough old banner!
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Just a thought, should I be expected to replace for free???
TBH the manufacturer is replacing the sign ( less than 3 weeks old) hes even refunding £50 for the graphics applied, it`ll take 30 mins to fit.
but if this wasn`t the case would "ACT OF GOD" be justified?
And if heaven forbid it did hit someone, is it our company that they come to? or the hotel the sign belongs too?
I am asking this, because we will be replacing this sign, but what happens in 2 months time if we get more high winds? I just want to be prepared when my husband fits it again, he`ll need to have a word with the hotel owner.
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We were driving down the main street in a town about 6am on Tuesday morning. It is a pedestrianised area which, during the day, is heaving with shoppers. As we drove along an ali tray with stainless built-ups, maybe 7m x 1m blew off the front of a shop and flew past the van – landing about 15m away! Had this been 3 or 4 hrs later people would have undoubtedly been seriously injured. Makes you think!
I’d probably offer to install the replacement FOC as it hasn’t been up terribly long. It’ll keep the customer sweet. At the same time I’d explain that you weren’t liable and that it was clearly and "act of god".
We installed a sign years ago to the cladding at the front of a new industrial unit. Two weeks later the customer called to say it had blown down. I said I’d replace it (it was a face-fixed composite panel, nothing too fancy) and he seemed more than happy.
So, we made the sign, travelled up and set up the scaffold. As I climbed up I thought "I’ll need to be careful I don’t catch the old fixing holes". I looked about – no fixing holes. I shouted down to the customer and he then informed me "Yeah, the cladding blew off too!"
F****** chancer!
(hot)
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Denise
if the sign broke and the replacement has not been improved in some way to resolve the issue then do not install it. Relying on "act of God" argument is not a safe bet. High winds are a common occurrence in the UK now & it is expected that exterior signage should with stand these occurrences. When i fit large swing signs as on Pubs etc i always fit a safety chain fitted on a separate wall fixing If the sign mounting fails in any way the chain pulls the sign into the wall before it gets low enough to injure anyone. However this does depend on each sign & how you fix the chain. I also include on our invoices that all signage should be inspected after severe weather as well as periodically.Kev
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Think Kevin is spot on with what he is saying, weather seems to be changing so this sort of thing is becoming more frequent and some people use the "Act of God" excuse far to easily. Not saying you did Denise but to fit the same sign the same way might be asking for trouble if it has already failed once.
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Hi
We have spoken to the supplier, who is putting in a brace to strengthen the sign, it failed in where it was attached to the bracket.
Kevins idea of a safety chain is a really good one, I will call the supplier on Monday and talk to them about it.
My question was really how long are we responsible for the items, I realise that 3 weeks is no very long at all, thats why we have not said anything, but 2 years down the line, surely we are not responsible?
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Hi Denise,
And all small companies, storm damage is a very grey area in our industry, the "act of god" term is virtually useless when it comes to sign safety these days. I have worked for some 25 years in the new Homes signage sector at a point running up to 150 building sites with large signs and at anyone time around 3,000 flagpoles installed.This caused many sleepless nights when the winds were blowing like they have recently, and we were forever going back to site to re-erect damaged signage, Our installation record was second to none, with nobody ever getting hurt, as it was always a concern I looked into liability in some depth, to which the long and the short of it has a few golden rules to follow.
In the case of your fallen sign, the liability will always be with you unless you have documentation ie: delivery note signed to say the customer is happy with the quality of the product and the installation.
Your invoice should have some sort of disclaimer saying that you offer the customer a maintenance contract to insure the safety of the sign on a periodic bases and after a period of stormy weather. (as soon as they say no to this contract, then the liability becomes theirs.) Depending on the size of your company maintenance runs can make a profitable sideline if you have installers.
Depending on the size of your company? employing a health and safety company set up a basic strategy is always good as once maybe twice a year they can determine and you will have in writing that your installers are qualified to undertake the job in hand.
If a accident occurs or at worst a fatality happens, you can be sure the HSE will investigate it, and they do not leave any stone unturned in determining who’s fault it is.
None of the above is legally binding of course, just my advice on experience, Just recently I had a customer who has demanded we replace a 160′ fascia as the timber frame had rotted away, after investigation is was worked out they we install this sign 17 years ago (can you believe the cheek of some people)
It goes without saying Kevin’s idea with the chain support should be a given on this type of sign which has always been difficult to install.
Good luck,
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Just thought I`d mention, we have now installed the replacement.
Metal straps have been screw over the weak points, and we have also screwed & glued in a couple of eyelets to allow for safety chains.
Thank you for the comments.
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