MetalPad EX supports fire-safe balcony installations

Pedestal and substructure specialist Wallbarn’s MetalPad EX range offers a cost-effective, safe and fully compliant solution for contractors and installers requiring Class A non-combustible build-ups to support balcony paving and decking systems.

The versatile pedestal system is easy and fast to install, covered with a special Zintec 200 anti corrosion coating for exterior locations and offers a massive, and precise, height range from 26mm to 675mm via a threaded stem. It forms part of Wallbarn’s comprehensive substructure support system, making it a versatile and installer-friendly solution.

Wallbarn developed MetalPad EX in response to changes in building fire safety legislation introduced after the Hackitt Report findings post-Grenfell and the need for rapid, cost-effective and effective fire safe pedestal and substructure systems for both new builds and as retro-fit solutions to the existing high rise estate.

The legislation calls for balconies on buildings over 18m high (shortly to be reduced to 11m) to be constructed from non-combustible materials in compliance with Approved Document Part B (ADB). BS 8579 states that ADB applies to anything deemed ‘attached to a building’, including balconies and some terraces, meaning that the entire balcony construction should be Class A as defined in EN 13501-01.

MetalPad EX achieves this and, when installed with Wallbarn’s substructure system, delivers a  non-combustible paving and decking solution that more than satisfies the regulations.

The adjustable pedestals are supported by a range of headpiece and connection components, including self-levelling paving headpieces, spreader plates fitted to base plates where pedestals are installed directly onto insulation or waterproof membranes, and options for decking.

MetalPad EX can also be connected to Wallbarn’s I Plus profiled aluminium joists and rails via a groove and wing nut bolt fixing, creating a strong substructure frame for decking boards and a Class A decking system.  In addition, Wallbarn has developed a new range of aluminium rails and profiles to provide extra scope in terms of height, weight tolerance and lateral stability, offering greater flexibility when building solid balcony and terrace substructures.