What Is The Right Time to Replace Your School Playground Equipment?

Do you have a playground in your school premises? Are they well-maintained and repaired to withstand the bursting energy of kids?

Well, a fresh, updated, and glazing playground is the attractive element of every school, which invites to captive parents and children. A properly preserved and maintained playground provides better safety for the playful kids.

How long does a school playground last?

The equipment in a school playground in Australia is strong and durable, which may last for up to 10 to 20 years. The longevity of a commercial playground depends on various factors.

Here are some of the main factors –

1. Structural design of the playground.
2. Quality of constructional raw materials.
3. Wear and tear caused by the traffic in the area.
4. Climate conditions of the area.
5. Protective layer on exposed playground equipment.
6. Behaviour of equipment materials when left exposed.
7. Frequency of maintenance schedules.

Generally, a reputed Australian playground supplier provides a minimum of 10 years warranty for your school playground accessories and equipment. If your playground equipment is maintained and cared frequently, its lifespan can last over a span of decades. Considerably, you can regularly inspect for visual defects like cracks, damages, loose nuts and bolts, and other connecting spare parts.

Any such defects can be immediately repaired or replaced to increase the life of your playground.

When to replace your playground equipment?

You must always consider repairing your playground equipment if it threatens the safety of kids. There are wide range of replaceable spare parts and other accessories for playground equipment. But, in some case, it is safe to replace the equipment than to just repair its damaged parts. Finding the right time to replace the playground equipment can be tricky.

Here are a few signs that indicate it is the right time to replace your playground equipment.

1. Damaged equipment – If the equipment or its parts are heavily damaged due to prolonged use, you must replace the equipment. Such damaged parts may cause severe and life-threatening injurious to the kids swinging or sliding on and around them.
2. Repeated complaints and concerns – Parents, kids, and school teachers are the most often visitors of your playground. Hence, if you receive any repeated complaints from them regarding the improper functioning or damaged parts of the equipment, you must consider replacing them immediately. Such broken equipment can cause major accidents to make you suffer heavy financial and reputational losses.
3. Dysfunction of the equipment – Dysfunctional parts are not safe to operate. They may break or damage due to mechanical defects or malfunctioning. So, it safe to replace them soon before it is too late.
4. Multiple and frequent repairing tasks – If a playground equipment gets damage frequently after each repairing works, it is a wise thing to replace it instead of spending on frequent repairing tasks. Also, such equipment can break anytime to cause major accidents.
5. Surfacing of equipment – Obviously, frequently used and loose-filling playground equipment develops bad surfacing over time. It is very dangerous to use. In such cases, either you may need to refill the surfaces or replace it for further use.
6. Obsolete equipment – If your playground equipment is over 20 years old or has expired warranties, it is the right time for you to replace it and install a new equipment.