Eng. Hawa Abdullah Bastaki, Director of Dubai Central Laboratory officially opened the Drymix Mortar Laboratory at DCL on 4 February 2013 at 10.00 AM in DCL, Al Karama at the main entrance in the presence of senior municipal officials, Mr. Laith Haboubi, President of MEDMA and Mohammed Sanaobar MEDMA Technical Chairman.
DCL and The Middle East Drymix Mortar Association MEDMA, Munich Germany have jointly announced the completion of the state-of-the-art testing facility for cementitious tile adhesives and other mortars according to international standards such as ISO 13007 for tile adhesives.
DCL is the sole and official testing and calibration body within Dubai Municipality and holds a lighthouse function in the entire area for the specification and certification of construction materials since decades.
The Drymix Mortar Laboratory at DCL was established in collaboration with MEDMA. Both parties thus concluded a two-year process in which they defined the legal framework, cooperated to prepare the space and determined the special equipment to be used.
Hawa said that the launch of new lab comes as part of Dubai Government's strategic plan to raise the quality standards, improve building conditions, performance of buildings and consumer protection, in line with the vision of Dubai Municipality to build an excellent city that provides the essence of success and comfort of sustainable living. This achievement also reflects the Municipality's keenness to work hard in order to combat commercial fraud and counterfeit products in addition to consumer protection.
Ali Ahmed, Head of Engineering Materials Laboratory at DCL said that the new laboratory is the first of its kind in the municipalities of the country, which serves both the public and private sectors. The opening of this laboratory is aimed to cope with the growing activity in the building and construction sectors as well as to enhance the quality, scope and efficiency of the laboratory tests services on mortar in the region in accordance with the highest international standards and quality.
Mr. Imad Juma Mohammed, Head of Structural Component Unit said the mortar is a substance used in various stages of construction in order to stick the brick, stone or tiles on different surfaces such as walls, floors and ceilings . The mortar consists of several materials such as clay or cement or homogeneous mixture of these materials.
'The laboratory will provide integrated solutions through a series of tests on mortar mixture including examination of time it takes to measure the applicability, tensile strength, slip resistance using the latest technologies,' Imad said.
'The new lab, fully equipped to test in accordance of ISO 13007, will serve MEDMA members and the general public in the UAE and the Middle East. There, producers or importers of tile adhesives can competentlyget their materials tested for suitability for use in the harsh climate throughout the GCC Nations and their classification according to ISO 13007. Especially in the large new construction projects where mortars are required in large volumes, the new lab will assist to find out the exact performance levels of such materials,' he explained.
The opening ceremony was supported by Wacker Chemie and attended by mortar experts throughout the region. Some stages of testing drymix mortars were performed by technicians of DCL in the presence of officials and participants.
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© Press Release 2013
