Four important reasons why maintaining a custom Play structure from Fleetwood Urban could be a lot easier than you think.

It’s one of the most common arguments we hear against choosing a custom-designed Play solution – “They’re so much harder to maintain than catalogue playgrounds!” While the perception is certainly out there, especially amongst maintenance crews, there’s plenty of real-world experience to suggest it often simply isn’t true. Here are four reasons why…

1. EVERY play structure needs maintenance

Kids treat all playgrounds the same…harshly! Whether your design is custom or straight from the pages of a catalogue, it’s going to take a beating. You can be certain it will require reasonably regular servicing – especially elements with moving parts. Fleetwood Play structures are custom-created to deliver you and your community maximum durability and design life. Rather than rely heavily on plastic-based elements – which, when they fail, need to be completely replaced – we predominantly use hard-wearing Australian hardwoods and metals. While our Play structures certainly will require care and maintenance, the effort required will almost always be comparable to catalogue structures. As an added benefit, the operational life you enjoy is likely to be noticeably longer, too.

“Most playgrounds have lots of moving parts – and they all wear out. But even if we’re just talking about static objects or structures, plastics wear in a similar way to custom timber structures. While initially you might say a catalogue item made from plastic would last longer (than timber), when you think about it, they all break down. There’s probably not a lot of difference.”

Rick Carr, Assets Coordinator, Centennial Parklands.

2. Locally produced, faster replacement

Did you know that Fleetwood Urban is totally Australian owned and operated? With more than 50 years in the business we always do our part to fly the Aussie flag. Every single one of our structures are designed and manufactured right here in Australia and meet Australian standards. That means should one of our structures ever need replacement parts, you can be confident knowing it will be managed quickly – and locally.

One of the biggest issues we often hear with choosing a catalogue play structure is that the majority of parts usually come from overseas. Along with import restrictions, reliance on overseas suppliers often leads to long and frustrating wait times while replacement parts are shipped from the other side of the world. Contrary to popular belief, these ‘catalogue’ parts are rarely just sitting on a shelf.

“One of the biggest issues with catalogue Play items is that the majority have to come from overseas. We’ve waited months and months on many occasions for replacement parts that have to come out of Sweden, Spain, or some other far-flung land.”

Rick Carr, Assets Coordinator, Centennial Parklands.

3. Free servicing for the first 3 years 

Every Fleetwood Play structure is custom designed, custom made and custom supported. This includes a six-monthly scheduled maintenance program where we inspect and maintain your new structure for the all-important first three years following completion. That’s six rigorous quality inspections to safeguard the long-term integrity of your project, ensuring it stays in perfect working order for many years of community enjoyment. In the event any adjustments or repairs are required, we’ll take care of it, saving you and your maintenance crews time and hassle.

4. Watertight structural and parts warranties 

Another perception we sometimes come across is that because a Play structure is custom designed, it’s somehow not covered by the usual quality warranties. Rest assured; it is! In fact, Fleetwood offers industry-leading structural and parts warranties on everything we design, manufacture, and install. You can read about our comprehensive warranty programs here.

“When you install a custom designed Play unit and you open it up to the public, it gets absolutely slammed. Within that first six months you’ll get a really good understanding of how well it will cope in the long-term.”

Craig Johnson, Parks Project Officer, Hawkesbury City Council.

Maintaining a custom Play solution could be a lot easier than you think.

Book your Free Project Scoping session with one of our inhouse experts and discover how easy it could be. Contact us today. 

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