Finding a bollard supplier that you can rely on to perfectly satisfy your bollard needs and provide you with quality bollards for your project and can be difficult. We have created a step-by-step guide on how to select the best bollard supplier. From outlining your exact bollard needs to source a bollard supplier to assessing their suitability for your project, we have covered every aspect to sourcing the best bollard supplier for your convenience. When searching for the best South African bollard supplier, Street Scape is your experienced, affordable, and satisfactory supplier of steel and concrete bollards.
Step 1: Determine Your Bollard Needs:
Before you can begin finding a bollard supplier, you need to know your exact bollard needs. We have provided a basic outline to bollards to assist you in outlining your bollard needs.
1) Purpose:
A bollard is a sturdy post that has become a common feature in public spaces, but is also widely used in residential areas. Bollards are always installed for practical purposes. We have outlined the various purposes of bollards and the typical locations you will find them positioned in.
Public Safety: One of the reasons why bollards are most widely used is for public safety. You will find bollards around the perimeter of schools, shopping centres, restaurants, parks, and businesses. If a vehicle had to lose control in any of these areas, the people at these spaces are protected from being collided into as the car will first hit the sturdy bollards.
Building Protection: A driver who loses control of their vehicle on a busy road not only risks colliding with bystanders, but also with the buildings alongside the road. To minimise the damage caused to buildings that are positioned next to roads, bollards offer an excellent protective block. For business owners, bollards can reduce the expenses and stress of dealing with a vehicle collision into their business building. Additionally, bollards offer protection to historical buildings where a vehicle collision would be an irreparable devastation.
Space Demarcation: Bollards are useful in creating demarcated space, such as an area for private parking, a designated pedestrian walkway, or cycling lanes in the city. The purpose would be to offer an allocated space that is safe and secure for people to not worry about vehicle collisions or unauthorised vehicles using the parking space. Businesses also benefit from the use of bollards to demarcate a space as they can create an area outside their business for their customers to walk, sit, or eat safely.
Traffic Guidance: You will regularly find bollards being used for the purpose of traffic guidance. Bollards can block access to roads, either permanently or temporarily. Bollards can also be positioned to make a road narrower to slow vehicles down and thus reduce the prevalence of accidents in an area.
When you have an upcoming project and require bollards, it is important to clearly conceptualise the exact purpose and positioning of the bollards. This will then help you to determine the best-suited material to choose for your bollards.
2) Materials:
Bollards come in a variety of materials, namely concrete, steel, plastic, and wood. Steel and concrete bollards are the most widely used in South Africa. Both concrete and steel bollards have pros and cons, which is why it is important to consider the material best suited to your project before sourcing a bollard supplier.
Concrete bollards are made from a mixture of cement, water, and carefully selected aggregates. A concrete bollard offers excellent durability and strength, making it an excellent choice for safety, space demarcation, and traffic guidance. Concrete bollards are generally cheaper due to concrete being an affordable material and are therefore an excellent choice if your project requires a large number of bollards. They may take longer to install as concrete bollards are sub-surface mounted, which may affect the time frame of your project.
Steel bollards are made out of steel that is typically galvanised with a zinc coating. Steel bollards are also strong and durable, although if they are impacted by a vehicle and their zinc coating is chipped, rusting may start to occur. The rusting process will then start to degrade the strength of the bollard. A benefit to choosing steel bollards is that many are available as surface-mounted, which means they are quick and easy to install. A steel bollard will therefore suit a project with a tight schedule.
Once you have determined your desired bollard material in relation to the purpose and location of your project, you will then need to outline the exact quantity you will require. The number of bollards you need will impact the supplier you can choose depending on the quantity a bollard supplier can manufacture.
3) Quantity:
Determining the quantity of the bollards that you require will depend on the scale of your project. It is also important to take into account the needed spacing between bollards to satisfactorily perform their purpose. Bare the required spacing mind when selecting either steel or concrete bollards from your bollard supplier as each bollard will have different dimensions and thus may affect the needed quantity.
Once you have set an estimated quantity for your bollard project, you can then easily assess the suitability of bollard suppliers. Their manufacturing capabilities will determine the quantity of steel or concrete bollards that they can produce for your project.
4) Time Frame:
The time frame of your project is an essential element to consider when selecting a bollard supplier. Certain bollard suppliers operate on a small scale, and simply will not be able to produce the quantity of steel or concrete bollards you require in your desired time frame. Smaller bollard suppliers may also not have any in stock ready-to-go, which means that they will be manufactured to order which will increase your waiting period. We recommend outlining your bollard needs as soon as possible and then sourcing the best-suited bollard supplier so that there are no time delays to your project.
Step 2: Find Bollard Suppliers:
Now that you clearly understand your bollard needs, you can begin the process of sourcing a South African bollard supplier. To find bollard suppliers, there are two approaches you can take. Your first step is to search for bollard suppliers online and compile a list of suppliers that initially appear suitable. Once you have a list, you can then begin comparing the bollard suppliers to arrive at the best-suited bollard supplier for your project and bollard needs.
Your second approach to finding a bollard supplier will involve referrals. If you have friends or family in the construction industry or know someone who has previously used bollards in a project, we recommend contacting them to find out which bollard supplier they used and if they would recommend them.
Step 3: Compare Bollard Suppliers:
If you have sourced a list of bollard suppliers online, you may still be feeling overwhelmed. Understanding how to weed out the substandard suppliers from the best bollard supplier for your project can be tricky. We have outlined the key criteria you can use to assess the standard of a bollard supplier to arrive at the best one for your project.
- Quality: The bollard supplier produces bollards of a high quality that will be durable, strong, and suit the needs of your bollard purpose.
- Manufacturing Ability: The bollard supplier can manufacture the number of bollards you need in your desired time frame.
- Delivery: The bollard supplier can supply you with your bollards to the exact location of your project.
- Customer Service: You receive professional, supportive, and excellent customer service initially, during, and after your experience with the bollard supplier.
While it is easy and simple to enquire about the bollard supplier’s manufacturing ability and delivery services, you can only assess the quality of their bollards once you see the bollards in person from a previous project. Unfortunately, quality controlling the bollards before the project is often not a possibility. The best way to uncover the best bollard suppliers from the substandard is from customer reviews.
Customer reviews offer honest accounts of their experience working with the bollard supplier and the long-term quality of the bollards. This can be exceptionally useful as it can prevent any unsatisfactory bollards from being used in your project or any personal grievances with the bollard supplier.
It is also important to assess customer service experience on reviews where a customer was unsatisfied with the bollards and how the bollard supplier dealt with their dissatisfaction. While it is acceptable to make a mistake, if the bollard supplier reacts negatively or unsatisfactorily to the client, this is a clear warning sign against using this specific supplier.
Step 4: Select The Best Bollard Supplier:
At this point, you should have arrived at a bollard supplier that is the best suited to your project and bollard needs. Your bollard supplier should manufacture either your selected steel or concrete bollards in the exact quantity and time frame that you need for project completion. The bollard supplier should offer steel and concrete bollards of exceptional quality. You should feel that their customer service is unmatched both in your contact with them and based on other customer reviews. Your next step is to begin the installation of your bollards into your project.
Street Scape; The Best Bollard Supplier:
Street Scape is an exceptional supplier of steel and concrete bollards. Our years of experience in manufacturing steel and concrete bollards have enabled us to achieve an exceptional standard and consistent praise from a long list of satisfied customers. We are experienced, prepared, and ready to assist you with your upcoming bollard project.
We use materials of the highest quality to ensure that all of our steel and concrete bollards are durable, strong, and have longevity for your project. With Street Scape steel and concrete bollards, you enjoy the benefits of quality bollards at an affordable rate, so that we are the best choice for any bollard project scale.
With us, your bollard needs for your project come first. We will ensure that your steel or concrete bollards are manufactured to the correct quantity and within a suitable time frame for the completion of your bollard project. Additionally, we will then deliver your steel or concrete bollards to your project location. We strive to be your total solution to your steel and concrete bollards requirements for your project.
If you are interested in partnering with the best supplier of steel and concrete bollards, you can easily get in contact with one of the members of our friendly Street Scape team. Alternatively, you can also request a free quote for your steel or concrete bollards project. You will receive a prompt response and can immediately assess whether we are the ideal partnership for your steel or concrete bollards project.
Street Scape offers exceptional steel and concrete bollards that will satisfy your needs for any bollard project in South Africa.