Someone recently reached out to us to ask, “Our warehouse rack was never engineered. Is that a problem?”
Great question.
At Steelhead, we encounter non-engineered rack in British Columbian warehouses with some degree of regularity. When we say, “We’ve seen it all,” we truly have seen it all: from DIY-welded rack to outdoor shelving affixed to the side of a warehouse, held in place with ropes. Ropes.
But to answer the question, we acknowledge that many companies use pallet racking that was never engineered because until rather recently, it was never required to be. WorkSafeBC only introduced regulations for storage rack eight-feet-tall and higher in late 2018-early 2019. (Read about that here: OHS Regulation Part 4: General Conditions: 4.43.1 “storage racks.”)
Up until this point, it was common for companies to add additional pallet racking to a facility on an à la carte basis, as the demands of the business grew. The result is often a mix of assorted manufacturers and styles (ex: Redi Rack, Mastorak, Wedgelock, Teardrop, etc.) with varying capacities and seismic design, and perhaps configurations of new and used materials.
When we encounter such piecemeal, non-engineered systems and inspect them using the framework of the WorkSafeBC regulation and BC Building Code 2018, one question always emerges: which components of the rack will actually engineer to the current code?
In some cases, but not always, it is possible to engineer existing systems after-the-fact. Typically, it involves drafting a suite of letters, placards and drawings that an engineer stamps off on.
The Steelhead Warehouse Solutions team is qualified to provide:
- A stamped drawing indicating rack locations and elevations
- Weight chart placards
- Stamped concrete and geotechnical letters
- Schedule B – Letter of Assurance Engineer site inspection
- Schedule C – sign-off from engineer
- Pallet rack inspections
In the best-case scenario, this is a straightforward process. In the most extreme cases, we’ve seen an aging, damaged and un-engineerable rack system require a complete replacement.
If you are concerned about the quality of your facility’s racking, get in touch with one of our experts today to arrange a zero-obligation site visit.