Louvres are ventilation products that allow air into a building or structure, but prevent rain and dirt from damaging machinery.
In a nutshell:
- Louvre systems are used to protect and ventilate important machinery, or hide it from view
- Most rooftop louvre systems lend themselves to modular construction and can be installed in a few weeks
- Heavy louvre systems, non-standard designs and large projects will increase installation time
- Louvres that form part of the building façade require close collaboration with other contractors
- Weather and delays by other contractors can cause delays outside the louvre company’s control
At the same time, louvres can also hide HVAC equipment from view and are commonly used as a rooftop screening system. Either way, most louvre systems are relatively straightforward assemblies comprising a support structure, brackets and fixings, and aluminium blades.
As a result, louvred systems lend themselves to offsite, modular fabrication and can often be installed in less than a month. When the support structure has already been put in place as part of the overall steelwork contract, installation time can be a matter of a few days.
What can delay the installation?
There are of course, exceptions. Installation of rooftop plant screens in particular can be affected by weather, while heavier blades (timber louvres are less common) require manual assembly onsite. Non-standard designs or unusually large areas of screening will also increase time on site.
Where louvred panels are incorporated into the building façade to protect and ventilate a plant room, installation requires close collaboration with other contractors – say brickwork, curtain walling or cladding specialists. Here, delays can often be outside the louvre company’s control.
As with any activity on a construction site, close collaboration between all contractors is essential.
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