2026-03-12
Reading a Hanoi rooftop before you add a sector
A landlord sketch is useful for finding the stair, not for judging whether a second sector will clear the neighbouring parapet. On Old Quarter roofs we start with the water tank, the lift overrun, and any advertising frame that will throw a shadow at four in the afternoon.
Photograph the compass direction with a note on the frame. In Ba Dinh the ceremonial axis still constrains how high a pole may sit; a picture of the nearest flagged building saves an argument later in the expansion study.
We also ask for a picture of the electrical riser. Several Hanoi buildings share a meter room that cannot take another breaker without a building-management letter. That letter belongs in the same folder as the photographs.
If the roof is shared with a restaurant exhaust, record the hours the kitchen runs. Heat and grease change how often a crew will actually climb for maintenance, which belongs in the ranking table even when the radio plan looks tidy.