With the acquisition of Flame Control in March 2024, PTSG had its first office overseas, located in Harderwijk, Netherlands. From here, the specialist team provides a range of fire solutions throughout this part of Europe to ensure clients remain fire-safe and compliant with the latest regulations.
For over three decades, our business has been at the forefront of delivering world-class solutions on some of the most prestigious and complex projects globally. We’ve earned the trust of commissioning organisations that demand nothing less than excellence – entrusting us with their most critical assets. Our team’s unrivalled expertise, honed through years of international experience, has consistently raised the bar, providing innovative and tailored solutions that operate to the highest British standards. Whether navigating intricate challenges or pioneering new technologies, we are proud to have played a key role in shaping iconic projects that set the benchmark for excellence worldwide.
Access & Safety
PTSG has delivered annual testing of St. Bernard’s Hospital’s fall arrest systems since 2008, when the contract was inherited from one of its acquired companies. This long relationship has allowed PTSG’s skilled engineers to develop an extremely clear understanding of what the hospital requires in the delivery of these works, both in terms of the quality of work provided, and in the manner in which they are carried out.
In 2016, the hospital was looking for ways to utilise a greener energy supply, and in such a sunny climate solar panels were an obvious choice. However, its roofs were not safe for contractors to access in order to install the solar panels, and so the installation of a bespoke access system was required.
As an already trusted partner to the hospital for access and safety services, PTSG was the natural choice to advise the hospital on how best to make this work happen, and to provide the solution in a quick and cost-efficient way.
The Group’s engineers being approached by the Gibraltar Health Authority to advise them on an access system for the hospital’s plant room, where the solar panels were to be installed. This then developed into an agreement to design and install a bespoke solution comprised of fixed ladders, mansafe systems and walkways.
The pressures of working for a public body in an unfamiliar environment created several unique obstacles for PTSG’s engineers to overcome. An example is high temperatures and exposure to the sun, which had to be accounted for in the team’s working processes and proced
PTSG’s team scheduled works for the coolest times of the day, and taking more regular breaks to get some shade and rehydrate. To account for the extra time spent off site on this contract, PTSG worked with the Gibraltar Health Authority to meticulously plan all works, creating a strict schedule that was adhered to at all times.
The distance between PTSG’s head office in Castleford and the location of the site in Gibraltar called for an innovative approach to this project. On its work in the UK, PTSG is able to construct the majority of its access equipment at its main base, before transporting it to its final location and piecing the main components together.
As PTSG is based almost 2,000 miles away from the hospital, this contract required an innovative delivery solution as the equipment could only be exported on pallets. Every piece of the system – comprised of ladders, handrails and mansafe systems – was designed to be packaged and delivered in a ‘flat-pack’ form so that it could be easily exported and assembled by PTSG’s teams on site.
This requirement had to be carefully considered throughout the design process, as any access equipment that could not be easily assembled from several ‘flat’ pieces was not viable. Despite the new challenges this contract brought with its location, the company dedicated the time and resources necessary to deliver an access solution that was unique and perfect for this site.
Electrical Services
PTSG was first contracted by Bechtel in 2011 to carry out inspections of the lightning protection system at the newly constructed Hamad International Airport (HIA) – also known as Doha Airport, in Qatar.
Bechtel was appointed by HIA to oversee the entire construction of the airport. The project was split into numerous smaller projects, which were completed by a variety of international sub-contractors.
As the new airport was an American design, all of the specifications were to the numerous US standards. However, it was impractical to enable all elements of the construction to comply with US standards (except CP18, which is the main airport terminal) due to the required time and expertise needed to achieve this.
Compliance involves many factors and the designers, installers, materials and inspectors all needed to be NFPA accredited. The main stumbling block was in obtaining compliant materials and inspectors. The client asked if PTSG could provide a third-party inspection of its installations to confirm the system was compliant with NFPA 780 or BS EN 62305 (British and European Standard).
Bechtel approved PTSG’s accreditations for work on HIA and, following the initial visits in late 2011, its team completed a minimum of 15 further trips for other clients. PTSG provided specialist support to 12 individual site assets at HIA through a number of work packages, including central utility plants, communications masts, aircraft wash facilities and air traffic control. It did so working with a number of resident suppliers at each individual work site, extending the peer group within which PTSG had to collaboratively deliver the works.
The Group experienced a truly international site with a number of independent assets built to varied international standards and codes. The challenge of standardisation and compliance was embraced by PTSG as an opportunity to demonstrate true collaboration with the client. The success of the collaborative approach is demonstrated by multiple further packages of work up to the present day, latterly working on the fully operational international airport hub, which opened in 2014.
PTSG overcame unique challenges presented by working in an environment foreign to many of its engineers. This was achieved through the development of a clear, specific methodology that was set out during the planning stage prior to works commencing.
Building Access Specialists
In February 2020, engineers from PTSG Building Access Specialists Ltd carried out repairs to a chimney for Barbados’s sole electricity utility provider, Barbados Light and Power. The international partnership between the two organisations developed several years earlier when PTSG’s rope access technicians attended power generation stations on the island to carry out a variety of works, including chimney inspections, repairs, and maintenance such as cleaning and painting.
Two of the power generating plants operated by Barbados Light and Power are located in the Parish of St Michael on the south-west of the island. The third is located in Christ Church – the island’s southernmost Parish. The company is currently in the process of negotiating a direct undersea pipeline of natural gas from Trinidad and Tobago through the Eastern Caribbean Gas Pipeline.
Fire Solutions
In October 2021, PTSG was awarded a contract to work with the main contractor on a major new residential project in Dublin.
Stillorgan Leisureplex in south Dublin was Ireland’s first bowling alley, which opened in 1963. It was a favourite haunt of American rock star Bruce Springsteen, who reputedly went bowling there after concerts in 2016 and 2021. The Leisureplex has been levelled to make way for the construction of 232 apartments in blocks of up to eight storeys.
The build-to-rent apartments are aimed at the upper end of the rental market, with proposals for a concierge service, cinema, gym, along with a residents’ lounge, co-working space, dining area, communal kitchen and rooftop terrace. In addition to apartments, the development will include four restaurants and cafés and two retail units.
Engineers from PTSG Fire Solutions Ltd delivered residential sprinklers to multiple blocks at the new development, as well as pumping supplies.
A year earlier, PTSG’s Fire Solutions engineers designed and installed a system of sprinklers and dry risers to four residential blocks at The Grange – a new development in Dublin.
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