What secondary steelwork am I likely to need to install in my sports hall?

Secondary steelwork is always necessary for the following:

• Roof mounted basketball goals.

Secondary steelwork is highly likely to be required for the following:

• Wall hinged matchplay basketball goals - either sideways hinged or upwards folding. We can fix these goals to blockwork walls and have done many times in the past, but these days virtually all structural engineers specify secondary steelwork regardless of the wall construction.
• Electric vertically retracting divider curtains. These items are normally fixed to main roof beams and if that is the case then no secondary steelwork is necessary. If the curtain is to be located away from a beam then secondary steelwork will be required.

Secondary steelwork may be required for the following in certain circumstances:

• Practice basketball goals. Fixed height practice basketball goals can normally be fixed to blockwork as long as the blocks are high enough in the wall. If the goals would be fixed at the level of cladding or similar then secondary steelwork will be required. If you specify hydraulically height adjustable practice basketball goals then due to their weight it is likely that your structural engineer will specify secondary steelwork even if you have sufficiently high blockwork walls. If your practice basketball goals happen to be positioned where vertical columns are situated it is likely we can fix directly to those columns and secondary steelwork will not be required.
• Electronic scoreboards. These are not heavy structures (typically up to 50kg) but they are mounted at high level (5 to 5.5m above FFL) and often in areas where there is nothing load bearing to fix to (e.g. cladding sheets). We will therefore require something to fix to which may be steelwork or could be timber patressing.

Secondary steelwork is unlikely to be required for the following except under special circumstances:

• Division and cricket netting trackway. Our trackway needs to be fixed to the roof structure at least approximately every 5m. Secondary steelwork is virtually never required as we can fix to roof beams, decking, purlins, tie beams etc. but in situations where the main beams are spaced more than 6m apart and if we are prevented from fixing intermediate fixings to the roof deck, then secondary steelwork would be required.
• Trampoline spotting rigs. These are normally fixed under a main roof beam and therefore secondary steelwork is not required. If the location of the rig must be away from a main beam then substantial secondary steelwork will be necessary.

PLEASE NOTE: Continental Sports Ltd is not a structural engineer and we do not undertake design work as defined under CDM regulations. We will be pleased to provide all loading and fixing details of our equipment but we then require our client to employ a structural engineer to design appropriate secondary steelwork. Once you have initial designs, please forward them to Continental for us to sign off that we can fix to your proposed steelwork before you fabricate and install it.