How Long Does A Balcony Last? Exploring End of Life

How long does a balcony last? What happens at a balcony’s end of life?

End-of-life and disassembly need to be considered from an early stage, even before a new development has broken first ground. Whilst maintenance and repair of balconies need to be considered throughout the building’s lifespan, it’s also important to note that a balcony may need to be replaced entirely at the end of its natural lifespan. We’re here to answer some important questions on what happens once a balcony has reached its final days.

What’s the lifespan of a balcony?

A balcony’s lifespan can depend on a number of factors, including maintenance and mid-life replacement. Building structures are typically designed for 60-year lifespans and our balconies are designed to exceed this.

Some structural elements of the buildings are exposed to different weather conditions and are not protected by the façade, such as balconies. Therefore, careful consideration must be given to the lifespan of the balconies in the building as they reach the end of their design life.

British Standard BS 7543 provides guidance on the durability, design life and maintenance of buildings and their functional components, aiming to ensure that buildings and their elements perform as intended throughout their expected lifespan. Balconies, in this standard, are classified as ‘maintainable’ components, needing regular inspections, cleaning and repairs, with end-of-life planning being necessary, and suppliers needing to consider recycling and sustainable disposal practices.

How are balconies dealt with at the end of their lifecycle?

Our balconies are almost entirely recyclable by design.

In fact, aluminium is one of the easiest metals to recycle.

According to the Council for Aluminium in Building (www.c-a-b.org.uk), the recycling rate of architectural aluminium is between 92 – 98%. Wood Plastic Composite (WPC), a component found in some decking boards, is also easily recycled. Furthermore, according to The Aluminium Association, a 10% increase in end-of-life aluminium recycling can decrease industry greenhouse gas emissions by up to 15%.

For this aluminium to be recycled, the balconies need to be disassembled. Thanks to the demountable connections, our entire balcony range, from our Glide-On™ Cassettes® to our Clip-On® connections, can be removed from a building by a trained professional for repairs, maintenance or disassembly and recycling.

Once removed, the materials can be easily disassembled and the components can be sent for recycling, to be used in either newly fabricated aluminium or in other aluminium products across the globe.

How can you prove what you’re doing is environmentally sound?

Creating ethical sustainability measures is crucial for us at Sapphire. We’ve been committed to sustainable improvements and certifications since 2009 and are delighted to have been the first balcony manufacturer to create full Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) covering all stages of our lifecycle from our cast-in anchor to the completed Cassette®, soffits and balustrading. We’re not resting on our laurels though. We remain committed to continued research and creation of new EPDs for each new generation of balcony products we create.

Furthermore, we’ve also stated our commitment to the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi) and our chosen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We use our EPDs to create transparency around the balcony lifecycle, empowering our customers to make informed decisions about their environmental footprint.

This is all to say that the proof of our environmentally sound process is available and easily requestable. We’ve committed ourselves to transparency around our sustainable processes, and to further educational events and content on ethical sustainability in construction.

The construction industry in 2024 demands a high level of transparency and we understand that it is our responsibility to provide that transparency at every level of manufacture, from early design to the very end of our balcony lifecycle.

To understand more about the construction of our balconies, feel free to get in touch with our support team and see if taking the step towards a sustainable, ethical, prefabricated balcony could be right for your development.