Lance’s Lessons 3 – Your Pallet Racking & Seismic Code
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Lance’s Lessons 3 – Your Pallet Racking & Seismic Code
“If someone goes in and just thinks they can just move racking in and it is just two weeks before they need to open up, that could be a problem,” warns Jorgenson Material Handling Expert Lance Jorgenson. “Imagine if we don’t have the right pallet racking in stock—we carry a lot of it, but depending on a client’s needs no company can carry EVERYTHING a client may need, so that is a problem if suddenly they want to open their doors and they can’t pass the permit.”
If you are moving into a new building and need a seismic permit but your pallet racking won’t pass, you may be in a world of trouble.
“For example if you approach a material handling company when you’re up against a deadlines, they may not be able to have the racking that meets the code for what they have to store,” said Jorgenson. “If they want to put 3,000 pounds per level and the racking we have in stock may only be rated for 2,000 pounds so they’ve got to un-stack pallets and not fully utilize that important space because they can only put 2,000 pounds per level because of this last minute change or seismic requirement.”
When it comes down to opening the doors of a warehouse or distribution center, you need a permit for that racking and it has to stand up to pass strict city inspections to ensure employee safety in the event of a seismic occurence. “When you’re building a new warehouse or you’re moving into a new facility or you need to pull a new business license or occupancy permit, they won’t issue you one until you have passed that seismic process,” said Jorgenson.
So if you are moving, even in some states just a street away, those codes and regulations can change.
“The thing to remember is for someone moving into a new space or building a new facility, each city block has different codes and you have to pass the inspection for that specific parcel of land you are located on,” explains Jorgenson. “So we have to go in, design the racking, know the load it will need to support, the spacing and how high it will be, how many levels per section, and all of that. Then we need to create a layout and we go to an engineer and he calculates to make sure that the system we have designed will meet the seismic code. If it doesn’t pass that engineer’s calculations, we have to go back and modify the plans with a heavier gauge upright or anchors or whatever and then when we pass, we can submit that to the city and pass their seismic codes.”
“If you don’t do it and you need to get your occupancy permit or your business license, they’ll shut you down until you get it done,” emphasizes Jorgenson. “I usually like to have clients on board at the beginning of the process because I have to do the rack layout of what they want, then I have to design the rack and you’re talking about two weeks for the engineer to do the drawings and get them back to us,” adds Jorgenson.
This up-front meeting is crucial to bring an experienced material handling company like Jorgenson Material Handling into the process at the beginning because then you can bring all their experience and assets to bear in laying that pallet racking out, their unique ideas for maximizing your options and space and then making sure the solution they design will have the capacity to hold the loads and meet the seismic codes the city has in place.
Trust him. With decades of experience, he has seen this issue go horribly wrong for people who thought they could just set up shop without a professional.
“I know of a company who bought racking from someone else and it didn’t meet the seismic requirements and code and they ended up having to tear all that racking down because it wasn’t heavy duty enough and didn’t have the capacity they needed and so they had to take it all down, ship it to a different location and buy all new stuff. So I don’t know how much money they lost, let alone the time involved,” warns Jorgenson.That little oversight of passing seismic codes can cause lots of pain.
“If they had just started from the beginning with a company like us to help them think it out, design it, lay it out and pass the codes, they would’ve saved themselves a lot of money, heartbreak and grief,” said Jorgenson.
And that is the point. Maybe you need a professional material handling company to do the certification for your company; maybe you don’t and only need them to hold your hand and be an adviser through the process. Whatever the case is, as Lance stated above, it could save you a lot of grief in the long run.
