"You have to have some experience to be able to give good advice for tearing down a greenhouse", according to Jan van Beusichem. With his twenty years of experience, there's no question about it. Under the name J.B. Sloopadvies he recently started giving advice. "There's a lot of demolishing nowadays and if the market stays like this, that won't change very soon."
Before Jan got into demolishing, he had his own greenhouse in which he grew radishes. So he knows what it's like to 'have your own greenhouse'. "I still live next to my old business in the house that used to belong with the greenhouse."
Quite some managing
Throughout the years, a lot of things have changed, and that's no different in the demolishing of greenhouses. "You have to deal with a lot more nowadays. Just talking about the legislation, that's totally different."
Some examples Jan uses are safety and environment rules for contractors and dealing with asbestos. "That comes with a lot of paperwork, and the grower who's about to demolish is usually not too happy about that. In my role as adviser, I take that off their hands. With local authorities too."
Knowing the materials
Jan started in the demolishing business in the warehouse, with the materials. That helps him now. "Next to the knowledge of all the paperwork, it's good to know what you can get on the market. That helps when decisions have to be made about whether to 'demolish for life or demolish for death' as I tend to say.
"Demolishing to get rid of the greenhouse is faster, but demolishing to build it up somewhere else secondhand, can be cheaper sometimes. That's a decision the grower has to make with the demolishers, but I can give my advice."
Casta standards
Many a greenhouse nowadays gets a second life. "Some parts of a greenhouse can, after checking the Casta standards for greenhouse building, effortlessly be reused. But rebuilding a Dutch three or four meter greenhouse in Poland usually does require some extra strong materials, amongst other reasons to withstand the snow in those countries safely."
Pressure on the demolishing 'kettle'
Jan predicts some good 'demolishing years'. "It's not just growers who regularly demolish because the (new) cultivation requires a modern, new greenhouse, but local authorities regularly demolish older businesses to make room. What's remarkable, is that the acreage of those companies keeps enlarging. Sometimes it's multiple hectares at a time."
In the Netherlands, according to Jan, there's 'quite some pressure on the demolishing kettle' which can loosen up a grant or two. Internationally, the demolishing increases, too. "Me, I have a lot of experience abroad as well as in the Netherlands. France, Switzerland, the UK, Belgium (even though I don't see the last one as abroad)", says Jan, and for a final statement says, "they can always call me."
For more information:
J.B. Sloopadvies
Jan van Beusichem
+31 (0)6 14 48 33 33
jbeus@caiway.nl