FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
Off the back of Storm Floris, which recently brought 90mph winds and torrential rain to the UK, posing significant disruption to operations across the north of England and Scotland, site managers are being urged energy solutions and temperature control specialist, Aggreko, to adopt more robust dehumidification and heating strategies in the face of high-risk weather in order to minimise damage to materials.
Chiming with this, Aggreko’s latest report, Building in Resilience: Weather-Proofing European Construction in a Changing Climate, found that damage to materials was the top concern regarding high-risk weather among UK construction managers, with almost 40 per cent also stating that they had faced major delays, missed deadlines, and financial penalties as a result of high-risk weather.
Chris Smith, Head of Temperature Control at Aggreko, is emphasising the need for site managers to bolster their approach to dehumidification and heating in order to minimise the financial impact of both Floris and future storms.
He said: “As last year’s storm season evidenced, extreme weather is becoming all the more common in the UK, though volatile supply chains and rising material costs mean that the potential financial impact is greater than ever. As such, there is a renewed need for construction managers to deploy effective dehumidification and heating solutions to minimise damage to materials and ensure that sites are able to weather the storm.”
‘Storm season’ saw a record-breaking 12 named storms hit the UK between September 2023 and August 2024, with the Met Office also forecasting that winters will be up to 30 per cent wetter by 2070.
More recently, a report from QBE Insurance Group, developed in collaboration with Control Risks, found that the construction sector is already facing surging material costs due to geopolitical developments, with copper, steel, aluminium, and timber all spiking, and some reaching all-time highs.
Smith said: “With material costs on the rise, site managers must do all they can to safeguard their stocks against water damage, or pay the price. Copper, steel, aluminium, and timber – as well as wider materials such as concrete and insulation – are all susceptible to the effects of water ingress and damp, so an all-encompassing dehumidification and heating strategy is key.
“Bringing in solutions from a temperature control specialist can help materials to dry out quicker, allowing damage that may otherwise render them unusable to be avoided. While the worst of Storm Floris may have passed, it is certainly not the last of the UK’s wet weather, particularly as we approach the autumn and winter months, so I urge site managers to engage with these contacts ahead of time to get wet weather ready.”
