State-of-the-art facility fire tests construction products to ensure compliance with regulations making buildings safer
The Middle East's first furnace for testing and certifying fire rated doors and partitions used in the construction of all commercial, public, office and multi-family buildings has received its accreditation from the national accreditation body for the United Arab Emirates, the Emirates National Accreditation Service.
The accreditation certificate was presented in person yesterday (Tuesday 20 October 2009) by HE Dr Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water and Chairman of the Emirates Standardisation and Metrology Authority (ESMA), to Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants of Dubai, to highlight the availability of proper fire testing facilities for the region's construction industry.
The UAE government is committed to builders complying with international standards. The Minister said: "Accreditation of this laboratory provides confidence in the market and further enhances the infrastructure of quality for assuring safety and conformity of products and services."
Engineer Mohammed Saleh Badri, Acting Director General of ESMA, added that the new facilities are critically important tools in ensuring buildings are properly constructed. He added: "ESMA approaches and coordinates with strategic partners and regulatory bodies to assure the existence of accredited facilities so that materials and systems can be confidently verified and approved."
Tom Bell-Wright, founder and CEO of Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants, said: "There have been many major fires over the last few years and hopefully the presence of this testing furnace will now make it easier for builders to comply with the regulations and help make our buildings safer to live and work."
Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants has been providing testing for curtain walls -- glass and aluminium systems which form the outside walls of high rise buildings -- and similar constructions at their laboratory in Ras Al Khor for the last ten years. Two years ago, the company realised that local fire testing was badly needed.
The fire testing furnace is now fully operational with accreditation under ISO 17025 from the UK Accreditation Service and now the Emirates National Accreditation Service, a part of ESMA.
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About Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants
Based in Dubai, UAE, the company is a specialist curtain consultancy and a full-scale mock-up testing laboratory for curtain walling, cladding, fenestration and now fire testing. It was the first independently-owned company to have permanent curtain wall testing apparatus in the UAE and has a range of test chambers and support structures at their fully equipped laboratory. Since 1993 the company has been associated with more than 200 of the most prestigious and largest landmarks around the Arabian Gulf and neighbouring countries.
Media contacts
Nathalie Viselé
Shamal Marketing Communications
Dubai Media City, United Arab Emirates
Tel: +9714 365 2711
Mobile: +97150 457 6525
E-mail: nathalie@smc-pr.com
Ms Danuta Dunin
Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants
Tel: +9714 333 2692
Mobile: +9715 0462 4322
danuta@bell-wright.com
© Press Release 2009
