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  • The 750kg bespoke safe and the 5th Floor Apartment

The 750kg bespoke safe and the 5th Floor Apartment

Mr Brown had searched online for a safe but had lots of unanswered questions relating to the installation of the safe he wanted.

  • Will a safe of this size be too heavy for the lift?
  • How will it be moved from the lift to my apartment?
  • Will I have to compromise on size or security?
  • How can I assure my landlord & neighbours that there will be no damage to the communal areas?

He wanted a company who would be able to deliver and install the safe he required, safely and without compromise.

Don’t assume anything, carry out a survey

Mr Brown was looking to purchase a safe in America and have it shipped to the UK, however, the American company would not be able to deal with the delivery and installation at this end. Other safe installation firms had been contacted, but each conversation ended with more questions than answers.

Independent Safes offer installation services for safes purchased via us and also for safes like Mr Brown’s, which have been sourced elsewhere.

Through our initial phone call with Mr Brown’s architects, we established the dimensions weight & location for the safe and at this point, it was clear that we needed to attend the property and carry out a free site survey and risk assessment.

When a client is looking for a large safe, or if there are unusual installation requirements, we always carry out a survey. This ensures that everything goes smoothly when we deliver the safe and that we will not encounter any problems that may result in the job being aborted.

Our survey enabled us to check the requirements for delivering and installing Mr Brown’s safe.

The building itself is managed by a separate company and they have to be involved in the work, as permission has to be granted before we could proceed. This required the production of a Risk Assessment & Method Statement of the works being provided along with their assistance, as the safe needed to be moved over a glass floor.

The landlords were able to provide details of the loads that could safely be moved across the floor from original installation documentation. Apart from the protection of floor surfaces, we also needed to check the lift weight capacity to ensure it was adequate to take the safe, along with being large enough. The property had a large goods lift, suitable for moving furniture, so no issues.

Prepare the site and the neighbours

With everything checked at the site survey, we agreed on a delivery and installation date with Mr Brown to fit his schedule.

The safe was taken to the 5th floor via the service lift which had been checked for the 750kg weight of the safe plus the delivery team.

Then came the first complexity which, due to the survey, we were prepared for…

..to get to Mr Brown's apartment, we needed to move the safe across a beautiful communal glass floor.

Because this impacted the other residents and they had concerns, we had provided them with detailed information about when we were carrying out the safe move and how we would protect the glass floor and corridor from any damage.

We covered and prepared the glass surface to protect it and added plywood sheets to firm up the surface for our pump truck to travel across. All went smoothly and there was no damage or disturbance.

Once in the apartment, we manoeuvred the safe onto a prepared metal plinth 150mm tall. The safe was carefully levelled and centred and bolted through into the concrete below.

In Conclusion

Despite the size and weight of Mr Brown’s imported safe, our expert team were able to plan and execute the delivery and installation without any unexpected issues or problems arising.

We deliver and install safes and vaults throughout the UK and our services are trusted by the Film and TV Industry, Jewellery industry, high street retailers, as well as domestic customers like Mr Brown.

Most domestic and commercial safes can be delivered and installed directly by our specialist installers in unmarked vehicles. Larger safes and vaults are generally delivered to site using our crane lorry.

Visit our services page to find out more about our expert safe delivery and installation services

*Client name has been changed for his security and privacy