Weather-Hold Decision Standard for Exterior Work
Purpose
A route day gets planned against a forecast, but the forecast is a regional average and the work happens at a specific rooftop, parapet, or ladder position where wind funnels differently than the app predicts. This standard guarantees the same hold-and-resume sequence runs every time weather turns, on every access method the shop uses, so a tech never free-climbs a wet ladder because the customer is waiting, and dispatch never leaves a customer wondering why the crew simply did not show.
Scope
This SOP covers the go/no-go weather determination and the hold/resume procedure across every exterior access method this shop uses: ground/ladder/pole, scaffold, lift, and rope descent. It does not cover: the access-method selection itself (owned by windowcleaning-ladder-vs-scaffold-decision and windowcleaning-high-rise-vs-ground-level), the rigging and anchorage mechanics that a rope-descent hold interrupts (owned by windowcleaning-osha-1910-23-fixed-anchor-rope-descent-requirement and windowcleaning-safety-harness-rigging), and route rescheduling economics (owned by windowcleaning-route-economics). This SOP only decides whether work proceeds, holds, or resumes; it does not decide how the work itself is performed once conditions clear.
Roles and responsibilities
| Role | Owns | Hands off to |
|---|---|---|
| Dispatcher | Checks the morning forecast, pre-flags at-risk stops, owns the customer conversation once a hold is called | Route Technician, at route start; back from Technician on any hold |
| Route Technician/Descender | Runs the on-site check at every setup, holds final stop authority, executes the hold and resume steps | Dispatcher, immediately on calling or clearing a hold |
| Competent Person/Rigger | Sets the wind and condition thresholds for scaffold, lift, and RDS specifically, final call on borderline conditions | Route Technician, once a threshold call is made |
Procedure
Morning forecast check. Before the route leaves the yard, the Dispatcher checks the hourly forecast for wind, precipitation, temperature, and any storm cell tracking along the day's route, and flags any stop whose scheduled window falls inside an above-threshold period (thresholds per steps 2 through 4). Acceptance: every at-risk stop is flagged in the route app before trucks leave the yard. Wrong looks like a tech discovering a forecast conflict only on arrival at the flagged stop. Stop rule: a flagged stop means the Dispatcher calls the customer before the tech arrives, offering either a hold-in-place window or a same-cluster reschedule, not a surprise cancellation on the doorstep.
On-site wind check at each setup. Before erecting a ladder, pole, scaffold, or lift, or before rigging RDS, check sustained wind at the actual work location, using a handheld anemometer or a flag/leaf-movement estimate, not the phone forecast's regional figure; wind at a rooftop or between buildings routinely runs well above the ground-level reading a mile away. Thresholds, set as a common starting point and tuned to your own site conditions: hold ladder work above 25 mph sustained, hold water-fed pole work above 20 mph (a wind-loaded 35-ft pole becomes very hard to control past that point), hold aerial lift operation above the wind limit printed on that specific unit's data plate and never above 28 mph as a shop-wide default when the plate is unavailable, and hold RDS descent above 30 mph per the same figure used in windowcleaning-california-cooperative-bsis-rds-permit. Wrong looks like proceeding because "it doesn't feel that bad down here" when the work location is fifteen stories up. Stop rule: measured or estimated wind at or above the method's threshold means do not erect or rig; hold per step 5.
Lightning and thunder check. If thunder is heard or lightning is observed from the work location, at any point, all exterior work on every access method stops immediately, no exceptions for method or height. Acceptance: work stops within the time it takes to hear the thunder, not after finishing the current pane. Wrong looks like a tech finishing "just this one window" after hearing a distant rumble. Stop rule: once stopped, do not resume until at least 30 minutes have passed since the last thunder or lightning was observed, per standard NOAA/NWS lightning-safety guidance; any new thunder or flash during the wait resets the 30-minute clock. An aluminum ladder or a metal scaffold frame is the tallest conductor on most residential and light-commercial properties during a storm, and if the crew cannot get below the roofline within that time, then the nearest fully enclosed hard-sided structure becomes the shelter, not an open scaffold platform.
Precipitation and surface-temperature check. Hold traditional and water-fed-pole exterior work when sustained rain is moderate to heavy, both because wet rungs and wet scaffold decking raise slip risk and because a streak-free finish cannot be verified while the glass is still being rained on. Hold the same work when surface temperature, not air temperature, is at or below 34 F, since water on glass or on ladder rungs can begin sheeting into ice before it fully drains even when the air reading sits a few degrees higher. Acceptance: light drizzle that does not wet the work surface faster than it can be worked and dried is not itself a hold condition; sustained moderate-to-heavy rain, or a surface reading at or below the stated threshold, is. Wrong looks like continuing squeegee work in a steady rain because "the customer's already outside getting wet too." Stop rule: at or below the threshold, hold per step 5; this is an operational default, tune the exact temperature to your local climate and equipment.
Hold declaration. The tech or descender on site always holds stop authority; once any threshold in steps 2 through 4 is met, declare the hold immediately, log the hold reason and time in the route app, and return equipment to a stowed, non-hazardous state (ladder down and secured, pole retracted, scaffold platform cleared, RDS lines retrieved per windowcleaning-commercial-high-rise-rope-descent-access-standard) before notifying the Dispatcher. Acceptance: the hold is logged with a reason and timestamp before the tech leaves the immediate work area. Wrong looks like a tech mentally deciding to hold but never logging it, so the next check-in shows the stop as simply late. Stop rule: an undeclared hold is not a hold; the app entry and the stow-down happen before anything else, including calling the customer directly.
Customer communication during a hold. The Dispatcher, not the tech on site, handles the customer conversation once notified: state that the crew held for a specific, named safety reason, not a vague "the weather," and offer the next available slot, prioritizing the same cluster date where the route density math in windowcleaning-route-economics still applies. Acceptance: every held customer is contacted the same day the hold is called. Wrong looks like a customer finding out about the hold only when they call in three days later asking where the crew was. Stop rule: if the Dispatcher cannot reach the customer same-day, a follow-up attempt goes out the next morning; a held stop does not silently drop off the schedule.
Resume decision. Before resuming any held stop, re-run the relevant checks from steps 2 through 4 against current conditions; a hold does not clear itself just because the calendar moved past the original threshold event. Acceptance: the same threshold check that triggered the hold now passes, confirmed at the actual work location, not assumed from an updated forecast. Wrong looks like resuming because "it's been an hour, it's probably fine now" without re-checking. Stop rule: a failed re-check means the hold continues and gets logged again with an updated timestamp; elapsed time alone never substitutes for a passing check.
End-of-day hold reconciliation. The Dispatcher reviews every hold logged that day, confirms each held stop is either rescheduled into a specific future slot or completed after a resume, and updates the CRM record so no held stop is quietly forgotten. Acceptance: every hold-flagged stop from the day shows a resolution status by end of shift. Wrong looks like a held stop sitting with no follow-up date because the day got busy. Stop rule: any hold without a resolution status at day's end gets a same-day callback commitment logged before the Dispatcher clocks out.
Exceptions
- A customer insists the crew continue despite a called safety hold. The hold stands; it is not negotiable for customer preference. Offer a safe partial-scope alternative if one genuinely exists (interior-only work during a wind hold, for example), or reschedule.
- A stop is flagged by the morning forecast but on-site conditions at arrival pass every threshold check. The on-site check governs over the forecast flag; the tech may proceed, logging the actual measured or observed reading that overrode the flag.
- A rental lift's wind-limit placard is missing or illegible. Treat the unit as unrated and apply the shop's 28 mph default from step 2 rather than guessing a higher tolerance for that specific machine.
- A hold extends long enough to consume the rest of the route day's slack. Complete the current stop to its safe stopping point once conditions clear, and let the Dispatcher reschedule whatever remaining stops do not fit, rather than compressing the day into unsafe pace to catch up.
The record this produces
The route app carries, per stop: any forecast flag set that morning, the on-site threshold check result at setup, the hold reason and timestamp if declared, the customer contact record, the resume check result, and the final resolution status. Dispatchers read the daily hold log to spot a route day losing more stops than the forecast alone explains, a sign the on-site thresholds may need tuning for a particular site's wind funneling. The owner reads the pattern over a season to decide whether a given account needs a standing weather-contingency conversation.
Worked pass
A Thursday route, forecast shows an afternoon thunderstorm cell tracking through by early afternoon. Morning forecast check flags stops six through eight, scheduled inside the forecast window; the Dispatcher calls those three customers before the trucks leave, offering next-cluster-date reschedules. Two accept the reschedule; one asks to try for an earlier morning slot instead, and gets resequenced to the front of the day.
Stop four, mid-morning, was not flagged; the forecast cell was not expected until after lunch. The tech is partway up an extension ladder on a two-story home when they hear distant thunder. This is the FAIL: the forecast under-called the cell's arrival time. Step 3's stop rule takes effect regardless of the missed flag: the tech descends immediately, ladder down and secured, and logs the hold with a timestamp before anything else. Fourteen minutes pass with no further thunder or lightning observed. The tech does not resume yet, since 14 minutes is under the 30-minute clock from step 3.
At the 31-minute mark with no new thunder, the resume check runs: wind at the actual ladder position reads under the 25 mph threshold, no precipitation, surface temperature well above the freeze threshold. The check passes; work resumes and the stop completes. End-of-day reconciliation shows stop four's hold resolved same-day, the two rescheduled stops moved into next week's same cluster date, and the resequenced stop completed as planned.
References
- See related: windowcleaning-commercial-high-rise-rope-descent-access-standard for the RDS-specific stow-down sequence a hold triggers, this batch.
- See related: windowcleaning-route-economics for the cluster-date math a hold's reschedule should preserve.
- See related: windowcleaning-california-cooperative-bsis-rds-permit for the 30 mph RDS wind figure this SOP restates as a shop-wide default.
- National Weather Service, Lightning Safety guidance, the 30-minute resume rule after last observed thunder or lightning.
- OSHA General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1), applicable to employer obligation to address recognized weather hazards at height.