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Retired residents undisturbed by care home pipework refit, thanks to fast, flame-free press fittings

Date:
2019
Product:
>B< Press and >B< Press XL
Contractor:
Fa. Frantz
Description:
Upgrading pipework at a retirement home
Project:
House am Schlossberg
Location:
Homburg, Germany
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Background

A contractor upgrading pipework at a retirement home near Saarbrücken in Germany was able to complete the job without disturbing its residents thanks to the easy-to-use, flame-free advantages of press fittings manufactured by Conex Bänninger.

Products

House am Schlossberg, in Homburg, was built in 1984 and offers 54 senior citizen friendly apartments along with 132 nursing places.

Its potable water system and fire main lines in the basement were identified for replacement as part of a wider refurbishment of the home.

Conex Bänninger >B< Press fittings were chosen to connect the drinking water pipes while the large diameter >B< Press XL range was specified for the fire extinguishing application.

Jochen Pfeiffer, Project Business Manager for Conex Bänninger, explained that fundamental to the upgrade was that the residents should be undisturbed by the work.

“For the people living there this is their home, with many requiring nursing care. So it was absolutely essential that water would continue to be available when it was most needed,” said Jochen.

“This meant the installation had to be carried out at night so that the water would be running again from the following morning.

“With a limited period in which to work the contractor, who made the changes step-by-step, needed a solution that was fast-to-fit with reliable timeframes.”

Andrej Maier, for the contractor Fa. Frantz, said using a press-fit system, instead of the traditional brazing method, also ruled out the possibility of a fire hazard.

He said: “If brazing had been considered there would have been implications for the residents’ safety. This would have meant moving them while the installation was under way. It would also have required a hot works permit, which is not needed with a press solution as it is a purely mechanical joint.

“We had a team of five working on the installation, which we were able to complete over six evenings. If we had used fittings requiring brazing it would have taken much longer and been more difficult to plan, as we would have needed to wait for at least 30 minutes after each joint had been brazed to check for any fire risk.” 

>B< Press fittings are designed for water and gas applications and are for use with hard, half-hard and soft copper tube, providing a secure, long-life leak-proof joint.

They have the benefit of a three-point press, one mechanical press each side of the bead and a third, hydraulic, press compressing the O-ring.

For more information on the full range of Conex Bänninger fittings and accessories, please visit www.conexbanninger.com.