Any advice would be much appreciated. I know what I want to do, but I do not know how. Please assist.
Chris
I would suggest a crowbar or old squeegee - waiting until nighttime and maybe a ski mask.
Jk, Bump (to the Highrise guys)
[MENTION=20262]Bunkerboot83[/MENTION]
Pun intended.
Which part don’t you know how to do?
I imagine you are already a window cleaner?
Do you have rope experience/licenses(if any needed)?
If you already run your own business and want to expand into high rise, it may be quite hard there is a vast quantity of aspects that really need to taught and supervised with for quite some time, without the correct training it can be very dangerous not only to you and your employees but the general public.
Best advise would be call other companies in your area that specialize in that work and work for them for 6 months to a year to gain the confidence to do it with your own crew. It is not really a job that can be done solo. Over here its the law when using twin rope access methods that u must have some one who you are working with.
[MENTION=24315]Steve076[/MENTION]
I am not a window cleaner yet. What licences and training would one need for high rise work? These is a firm in Vancouver that seems to provide relevant training, it won’t let me post the link. They are called CRAS. Canadian Rope Access Specialists.
No rope experience or training. I know what I want and I know that I will get it. Anything is possible with hard work and persistence.
Thank you,
Chris
Not a window cleaner? Hope you got great credit or a massive bank wad. And better not have credit card debt or defaulted student loans. If this applies to you then “no loan”. Last resort put up any property you own to start your turn key operation into a reality.
Otherwise the harsh reality is this; $2000 in training, $2000 in gear; $4000 in licenses - ins - workers -compensation.
Why?
See edit ^^^^
So… start up cost of about $8000?
Yes. For 5 stories. Want go higher than 5, maybe 10 - 20? Add another 5 -10 grand.
5 is a good start. Are you Canadian? Are you familiar with what paperwork or certification would need to be done to get this off the ground in Ontario?
Thank you,
Chris
Don’t forget your crew. You need to be able to pay them to work while you get more tall buildings. 3 - 6 ppl. That will be another $2000 - $4000 per week, including workers comp pay in and social security. Then another $2000 in training and another$2000 in gear per person.
Could I start off with a two man crew?
In reality, $8000 is not enough. The truth in the matter is this. For 20 grand, you can start with one employee. For 45 grand you can jump right on in and not have to do anything but close sales, sign contracts and shake hands while the labor is being done.
Oh and don’t get any partners. Make all the cash.
I do not mind telling all this because I know how hard it is for anyone to jump in to any kind of business, not only window cleaning.
So here is my question to you, how much capital do you have?
In my opinion the most important thing u need to start with is learning how to clean glass, when ur on a rope u dont really have the space to carry a bag of rags to wipe up ur errors. The company i used to work for would not put any one on a rope for at least 6 months more like a yea in most cases.
Every day while i was in town doing rope work i would get asked 5-10 times a day “how do i get a job doing that?”
My first response was have you ever cleaned windows, the most often reply was “err yeah my moms with newspaper and vinegar, but how hard can it be”
None of those guys ever got a job high rise window cleaning. Seemed like a fun idea at the time.
I have never worked in the states nor Canada so i am not familiar with what training is required, over here you can do IRATA Industrial Rope Access Trade Association
IRATA is the most comprehensive training in the world. Once IRATA trained will be able to work in the rope access industry anywhere in the world. And you will a qualified rope technician not a bowsans chair operator. Over here this training with license included is around $1600 for a 4 day training and assessment.
If you are serious about this idea , start with the glass cleaning then look into the training for the rope side. I dont think its something that will happen fast the techniques are something that you learn over time.
Yeah, I know what IRATA is. You must be in Europe or Australia. I got certified through an ex military professional whose company certifies in rope rescue. I have had many jumps from various structures and recently did two, two story buildings tethering. Took two and a half years to reach that goal of mine.
See, I like that in a guy that wants to dangle off of buildings from great heights.
