Wrightstyle Joins Global Elite With Continued US Testing Programme | 16 Jan 2008 |
Underlining its commitment to an increasingly global market, Wrightstyle, the UK-based supplier of specialist glass and glazing systems, has successfully completed a second round of stringent US fire tests designed to further extend its range of international test certifications.
The company’s commitment to achieving global test accreditation, rather than simply test compliance to either European or Asian standards, now places Wrightstyle in a global elite of glass and glazing suppliers able to supply fire solutions to every jurisdiction worldwide.
The move to achieve comprehensive US test accreditation is a response to Wrightstyle systems increasingly being specified in key markets worldwide. To meet this demand, the company earlier this year completed a first round of US fire testing, which includes the exceptionally difficult hose stream test that is unique to the American test jurisdiction.
Once completed, the addition of US test compliance to Wrightstyle’s existing European and Asian certification reflects an international trend towards the application of either European or US test standards, even in markets where fire safety requirements still fall below those standards.
In part, that tend has been driven by the growing numbers of influential US architects who are working internationally and specifying American test compliance for the glass and glazing components. However, it also reflects a growing demand that sensitive buildings should be designed and built to the highest-possible safety standards.
A recent example of that trend is Bodycote Warringtonfire’s new centre for excellence for fire safety testing and approval in Dubai, a significant facility built in partnership with the Dubai Civil Defence (DCD) authority, and aimed at ensuring that the Gulf state complies with international safety standards.
This second round of US testing, in July, with Intertek Testing Services in Madison, Wisconsin, was carried out on the company’s internal and external door, screen, window and curtain wall systems to successfully increase times for integrity and insulation – further extending the boundaries of what is possible with glass under the US regime, and underlining the safety and versatility of Wrightstyle’s advanced systems.
Wrightstyle believes that with architectural and specification markets becoming more global, a requirement for US test certification will be increasingly applicable in other regions and countries. It is also a visible demonstration that Wrightstyle is committed to the development of highly-advanced fire systems that comply with the most stringent of international test regimes.
That particularly applies in America where fire resistance to ASTM E 119 (Standard Test Methods for Fire Tests of Building Construction and Materials) is required. This test method combines the same form of fire endurance that applies in other jurisdictions with the addition of a hose stream test that is unique to the United States.
Under the American test system, and immediately after the glass and steel glazing system has been exposed to over 1750 degrees Fahrenheit for the required length of time, a high-pressure stream of cold water is directed onto the assembly. This tests for the thermal shock that could be expected from fire-fighters tackling a blaze or from the building’s own passive sprinkler system. Further complicating the test, the longer the fire resistance being sought, the longer and more intense is the water deluge.
“The successful completion of this round of fire tests is merely a further step towards achieving US test accreditation across our whole range of advanced systems,” said Simon Bennett, Wrightstyle’s International Sales Director.
“Different countries apply different criteria to fire safety and this diversity complicates the specification process. What we’re doing, in response to market demand, is ensuring that our fire and blast systems are easily recognised worldwide as being among the very best solutions available,” he said.
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