[CHT]

I am a customer who has had a few tiles broken but I don't blame my window cleaner.  I had a single storey extension built and to access the windows and guttering above it there is little option other than to go on the roof.  I emailed Marley who make the tiles and they said we are supposed to use crawl boards.  This is fine but the roof is also a fire escape route, so my family have to stay in the burning building until someone makes some crawl boads and puts em on the roof.  It would seem far smarter if they made the tiles strong enough so that you could walk on them without breakages.  So my question is do you know of any tile manufacturer that has been smart enough to make stronger tiles?

Thanks

Bryan

[jeff1]

Are these marley tiles the flat or pan tiles  (wavey type) if its a fire escape Then it should not be a tiled roof, health and safety would not be happy with you walking on a tiled roof especially if its a fire escape.

There is on the market, a flat concrete type tile that can be walked on, but I don't know there correct name.

A crawl board can be a simple scaffold plank, used to spread the weight of a person.

[Captain Scarlet]

just use a piece of ply to spread your weight, this is what I do on one job. But does your window cleaner use a pure water fed pole ( pole with a brush! ) ? Luke

[Paul Coleman]

I am a customer who has had a few tiles broken but I don't blame my window cleaner.  I had a single storey extension built and to access the windows and guttering above it there is little option other than to go on the roof.  I emailed Marley who make the tiles and they said we are supposed to use crawl boards.  This is fine but the roof is also a fire escape route, so my family have to stay in the burning building until someone makes some crawl boads and puts em on the roof.  It would seem far smarter if they made the tiles strong enough so that you could walk on them without breakages.  So my question is do you know of any tile manufacturer that has been smart enough to make stronger tiles?

Thanks

Bryan

Alas I have broken tiles underfoot too in my time (I'm no lightweight).  I find the strongest ones are the pan tiles but if a batten is a bit dodgy, any tile might crack.

[Helen]

Hey guys, what a nice chap Bryan is, he doesn't blame the window cleaner. Can we all clean for you Bryan, as we take the blame for many things we haven't done, from releasing rabbits to smashing tiles. 

[Pure H20 Cleaning Services]

In reply to the question you can make tiles stronger but then they would be heavier and todays moden truss would have to be made thicker and stronger causing problems for todays timer framed houuses, anything made thicker stronger and better costs twice as much!

[CHT]

Thanks to all for the replies.
jeff1 - Tiles are Marley concrete Modern Interlocking Flat tile, I had to take a sample to my local roofing experts to get replacements.
Luke Johnson - My window cleaner has a bucket and ladder, that's about it!  I have never seen a cleaner round here with much else so changing cleaner wouldn't help.

I design machines and the rules for me say that not only do I have to allow for how a machine is designed to be used but also how it may be reasonably used.  So when there is a single storey extension roof that you have to cross to access windows and guttering it should be designed to allow for that 'reasonable' use.  In fact I would say it was a health and safety issue if it isn't.  It seems that the building world takes a long time to catch on to modern thinking!  I have found some metal tiles by Decra (www.decra.co.uk) that look like concrete (so that planning can't complain) but I don't know the price yet.

Thanks

Bryan

[jeff1]

I know the tiles your on about, and I have worked and stood on many of these and never broke one, to break them you would have to be really clumsy or very heavey.
I would have thought that the problem is Underlying the tiles and not the tiles them selfs.

I can't grasp why you have to walk over a tiled roof as an escape route? if it was a H&S issue they would have made you instal a metal platform with metal stairs.

As a machine designer, I'm sure you could design a simple single gantry type escape route, so much more safer than running along a roof in the dark and rain with no way down off the roof, if a house is on fire.
If this was my family's safety, it would be a case of sod the cost and build a proper escape route.