Ceiling Hoists And Structural Provision
A hoist track carries a person's full weight from the ceiling, which makes it a structural item rather than an equipment item. In a factory-built dwelling the provision is designed into the frame and installed before lining, which is both cheaper and stronger than retrofitting to a finished ceiling.
How is a ceiling hoist supported in a modular dwelling?
The track is fixed to steel structure built into the ceiling frame, designed for the rated load of the hoist plus the required safety factor, and installed before the ceiling is lined. Retrofitting after handover means opening the ceiling, adding structure between existing members, and making good, which costs several times the provision made at design stage.
A ceiling hoist is the difference between a resident being transferred by two staff and being transferred by one, or in some cases between living in a house and not.
It is also a structural element bolted to a ceiling, and that is the part that gets decided very early.
What the structure has to do
The track carries the resident's weight plus the hoist unit, dynamically, repeatedly, for years, and it does so from above.
Which means the supporting structure is designed for a rated load with the safety factor the standard requires, at every fixing point along the track rather than only at the ends. A track that turns a corner or runs between two rooms adds load paths that have to be resolved in the frame.
In a steel-framed module that provision is straightforward, because the ceiling frame is already steel and additional members are welded or bolted into it as part of fabrication. It is designed with the rest of the [structure](/blog/the-steel-frame-and-why-it-is-over-engineered) rather than added to it.
Where hoists actually need to go
Not just the bedroom.
**Bedroom to ensuite,** which is the most common requirement and the one that removes the most manual handling. A track that runs continuously through the doorway rather than stopping at it is a different proposition for staff, and it requires the doorway head to be designed for it.
**Over the shower and over the toilet,** which determines where those fixtures sit, because the track and the fixture have to align.
**Over the bed,** with enough track length that the hoist can position rather than only lift.
**In a second bedroom,** where the resident's needs may change or the dwelling may house a different resident later.
Each of those is a line on a drawing that costs almost nothing at design stage.
Provision versus installation
Two separate decisions, and it is worth keeping them separate.
**Structural provision** means the steel is there, designed and certified for the load, and the fixing points are recorded. No track, no hoist, no cost beyond the steel and the documentation.
**Installation** means the track and the unit are fitted and commissioned.
A dwelling built with provision in four locations and hoists installed in one can have the others fitted in a day, by anybody, without opening a ceiling. A dwelling built with no provision cannot.
Which makes provision the cheapest form of futureproofing available on an accessible dwelling, and the same argument as everything else in [designing for change](/blog/designing-for-changing-resident-needs).
What retrofitting involves
Opening the ceiling lining. Finding the existing members, which are not where the track needs to go. Adding structure and getting it certified. Reinstating and finishing the ceiling. Working around a resident who lives there.
None of that is impossible. All of it costs several times the provision, and some of it is not achievable at all if the ceiling structure was never designed with spare capacity.
What to record at handover
The location of every provision point, the rated load, the certification, and a drawing.
Provision nobody can find is provision nobody uses. A dwelling handed over with a marked drawing of its structural capacity is a dwelling that can be adapted without a structural engineer attending first.
MADEmodular / MADEbetter.
MADEmodular / MADEbetter.