HVAC Access Plant Decks, Platforms and Screens

What is a Plant Deck?

A plant deck is an aluminium platform designed to provide access and support for heavy machinery, HVAC systems, and other mechanical equipment on rooftops or within industrial, commercial and education facilities.

These decks provide a safe and robust platform for maintenance of mechanical plant equipment, ensuring efficient operation and easy access for technicians.

These equipment platforms are engineered to evenly distribute the weight of HVAC and other heavy equipment, preventing excessive load on the roof structure while ensuring safe and stable support for long-term performance.

Why are Safetylyne Plant Decks a smart choice?

Unlike traditional platforms, Safetylyne plant decks are designed for minimal-impact installation — requiring fewer fixings and roof penetrations. This helps preserve the integrity of the roof membrane, reducing risks such as corrosion and water ingress.



Constructed from lightweight, non-corrosive aluminium, the system acts as a load-distributing raft, reducing point loads and limiting structural impact on the roof. The engineered fixings meet structural and wind load requirements while minimising the need for intrusive penetrations — making the system safer for sensitive roofing systems and more efficient to install.

When Does Your Facility Require a Plant Deck?

+ Supporting Heavy Equipment

Facilities that need to install heavy machinery, such as HVAC systems, generators, cold storage units, large solar panel systems, or any large industrial equipment, benefit significantly from plant decks and platforms. These fixed platforms are engineered to support substantial loads, ensuring the stability and safety of the equipment, ensuring free airflow, and sound isolation when required.

+ Improving Accessibility

Fixed roof decks provide easy and safe access to mechanical equipment, facilitating regular maintenance, inspections, and repairs. This is especially important in facilities where equipment is installed at height or in hard-to-reach areas like elevated areas, mezzanines, rooftops and plant rooms.

+ Enhancing Safety

By providing a stable working surface, plant decks enhance roof safety access and height safety, reducing the risk of accidents and injuries on-site. They often include features like guardrails, non-slip surfaces, walkways, screens and secure access points and rooftop gates, ensuring a safe working environment for maintenance workers.

Some plant decks and platforms require doors and stairs for enhanced access and security, providing safe entry points to enclosed areas or elevated equipment.

+ Pitched Roof Access Platform

Plant decks can be designed and engineered to suit project-specific roof pitch requirements.

We assess every HVAC system, air conditioning, cooling towers, mechanical plant rooms, other mechanical plant equipment areas, and building design to recommend the most efficient and compliant system for your site and roof. This ensures safety and compliance with relevant regulations, creating an optimal and secure environment.

+ Organising Space

Plant decks help in organising and optimising the available space on rooftops and mechanical plant rooms. By elevating equipment, they free up valuable ground space for other uses, reduce clutter, and provide an even surface for roof safety access, maintaining the air flow and surface load.

+ Compliance with Regulations

Many safety and building regulations require the installation of plant decks for specific types of equipment. Ensuring compliance with these safety regulations is essential for the safety and legality of your operations.

+ HVAC Noise reduction

Plant Platforms with louvre screens provide an acoustic barrier to isolate HVAC and any other equipment and machinery noise while maintaining a free airflow.

Plant Platforms with Custom Finishes

At Safetylyne, we offer plant platforms with a variety of finishes and colours to match your building's aesthetic needs. Our platforms can be customised to complement the overall look of your structure and to match project specifications.

Roof Plant Platform Screen Variations

Our platforms are available with various types of screen variations including batten screens and louvre screens.

• Batten Screens
  Batten screens provide ventilation and partial visual screening for plant equipment. They are typically used where airflow is required but full concealment is not necessary.
• Louvre Screens
  Louvre screens are designed with angled slats to increase visual coverage and assist with noise reduction, while maintaining consistent airflow. They are suitable for applications where greater screening of equipment is required without compromising ventilation.

How Louvre Screens Enhance Sound Isolation

Noise Reduction with Custom Louvre Screens for HVAC and Industrial Equipment.

Louvre screens are an ideal solution for reducing noise from rooftop and industrial equipment such as HVAC units, generators, air conditioning systems, exhaust fans etc.

Angled louvre blades are specifically designed to block and redirect sound waves, providing effective sound treatment without sacrificing airflow. This helps create a quieter environment, reducing the impact of operational noise on surrounding areas like offices, residential buildings, and public spaces.

In addition to HVAC systems, louvre screens are also effective in reducing noise from other equipment, including cooling towers, air compressors, pumps, and industrial machinery.

These screens act as a sound barrier, minimising the noise impact that can affect employees, nearby residents, or neighbouring businesses. By diffusing and deflecting sound, and creating an acoustic barrier, louvre screens ensure that operational noise is kept to a minimum while maintaining ventilation and system efficiency.

At Safetylyne, we develop and fabricate custom acoustic screens designed to optimise sound isolation for your specific needs. Whether you're looking to reduce noise from HVAC systems or other rooftop equipment, our louvre screens maintain efficient airflow while providing a highly effective noise control solution. This ensures a balance between practicality and sound reduction, enhancing both functionality and comfort for your building.

Ensuring Safety and Compliance:

The Essential Standards for Plant Decks and Platforms in Australia

In Australia, plant decks and platforms must be designed, constructed, and installed in full compliance with relevant standards and regulations to ensure safety and functionality. Aligning with Australian standards is essential to meet structural integrity and safety requirements across all stages of the process.

Relevant Standards for Plant Decks and Platforms

+ AS 1657 – Fixed platforms, walkways, stairways, and ladders:
This standard outlines the design requirements for safe access to plant and equipment on platforms, walkways, and stairways. It specifies the correct dimensions, guardrails, and other safety measures required to prevent falls and ensure stable access.

+ AS/NZS 1170 – Structural design actions:
This set of standards provides guidelines for the structural design of plant decks and platforms, particularly concerning load capacity and wind actions. It ensures that platforms can support the necessary weight while withstanding environmental factors like wind loads and vibrations.

+ AS/NZS 1891 – Industrial fall-arrest systems and devices:
If plant platforms are located in high areas, this standard applies to the use of fall protection equipment, ensuring that appropriate anchor points and fall-arrest systems are installed where necessary.

+ AS 4100 – Steel Structures & AS 1664 – Aluminium Structures:
These standards set out the structural requirements for platforms made from steel and aluminium, respectively, ensuring that materials and fixing methods used are appropriate to withstand environmental conditions, functionality and load requirements.

+ National Construction Code (NCC):
The NCC sets out the broader regulatory framework for all types of construction, including plant platforms. It incorporates standards related to safety, durability, and structural integrity, ensuring that platforms comply with building codes and regulations.

Visit the Regulations and Guidelines page for detailed information on roof safety and to learn more about compliance with Australian Standards.

All Safetylyne plant platforms and decks are designed and installed in compliance with these standards to ensure the highest level of safety and structural integrity.

For elevated installations, safe and compliant mechanical plant room access is essential, with conforming platforms, stairs, and guardrails to support ongoing maintenance.

We also provide comprehensive audits and advice on meeting these standards during the design and installation phases, ensuring that your facility is compliant and secure for ongoing maintenance and operations.

Choose Australian-made compliant HVAC Platforms with Safetylyne

At Safetylyne, we specialise in the design, manufacture, and installation of durable, custom-made plant decks and platforms with screens and integrated complex access systems.

We fabricate all systems at our warehouse to reduce working time on site for a quick and seamless installation process.

Safetylyne plant decks are engineered to provide safe and efficient support for  mechanical equipment,  enhancing the overall functionality and safety of the facility.

With decades of industry experience, we are committed to delivering high-quality solutions tailored to your specific needs.

Contact our Roof Safety experts today to get your access solved.