In order to achieve our ultimate objective of helping to raise fire safety standards across the built environment, we recognise that listening to our customers is an absolute necessity.
By listening to their needs, the challenges they face, their product feedback and ideas, we can ensure that we produce solutions that not only perform to the highest of standards but meet their requirements and work in real-life scenarios. It’s this type of collaboration that underpins our success and supports our innovation strategy.
Not limited to product development, such collaboration also ensures we support our customers in other areas – including testing safety standards. As the only UK manufacturer of low-rise cavity barriers to hold internationally recognised IFC product certification, our cavity barriers not only meet but exceed required British safety standards so when national masonry contractor Phoenix Brickwork contacted us to discuss product performance under alternative conditions, we were pleased to arrange for bespoke testing to be carried out.
Commercial Manager George Danzey-Smith explains more:
“Since the revised Building Safety Act came into play with its requisite to produce the Golden Thread, fire barrier specification and testing standards have, quite rightly, come under the spotlight. As a business, ensuring buildings are fitted with the most effective fire barrier solutions is one of our main objectives and we are keen to support our customers to achieve these standards.”
Indeed, it is this legislation that impelled national masonry contractor Phoenix Brickwork to contact the team at ARC. Jamie Duerden, Brickwork Managing Director at Phoenix Brickwork explains:
Jamie Duerden, Brickwork Managing Director at Phoenix BrickworkEnsuring our projects meet fire safety standards is of crucial importance and is something we take very seriously. We’ve used ARC products for many years and have a great relationship with the team which is why I didn’t hesitate to contact them to discuss our additional testing requirements.
“In this particular project, the test data available didn’t apply to the situation on site and we were concerned that given different substrates had been used to those in the standard testing process, safety standards may not be met.
“This wasn’t an issue unique to ARC products but something that we found to be the case across the industry. The team at ARC were, however, happy to listen to our queries and support us, undertaking specialist testing for our peace of mind.”
George continued “When Jamie approached us regarding the test data we instantly recognised that this was something we could help to address. Our goal is to ensure our products and solutions meet the highest safety standards and so we were keen to carry out the bespoke testing for this build scenario as we knew it would remove the issue for the Phoenix team.”
Jamie added, “The ARC team were quick to act, arranging for designs to be made and organising for testing to be carried out at Warringtonfire. We physically built the test scenarios, ensuring every detail was true to life and were thrilled to see that the products outperformed expectations. Now we have the test data we need to satisfy our building safety commitments and can confidently use it moving forwards.”
George concluded the conversation by adding, “We were pleased that Jamie and the team at Phoenix brought the testing scenario to our attention. Listening to feedback and acting to address gaps that exist in the industry is the only way we can ensure that the built environment is constructed to the highest safety standards.”
To contact ARC Building Solutions, please email sales@arcbuildingsolutions.co.uk or call 0113 252 9428.
