BTS Facades & Fabrications has had its best-selling panel system successfully retested against the Centre for Window and Cladding Technology’s (CWCT) Standard for Systemised Building Envelopes (SSBE).
The assessment for the CWCT’s Standard for Systemised Building Envelopes 2005 was carried out by industry leading test experts at UL Solutions, to which BTS’ Vantage SF range passed with flying colours.
The team at BTS are planning to have all their products retested to the CWCT’s high standards, to ensure they stay at the forefront of safety regulations within the rainscreen and cladding industry.
BTS’ test & certification programme is overseen by its associate technical director, Mark Wiper, who was appointed in 2020 to manage the firm’s technical excellence and compliance.
He said: “I’m immensely proud that our flagship product has passed the CWCT’s standards, these fantastic results are great news for BTS as they can remove a lot of uncertainty for designers, specifiers and building warranty providers.
“Rainscreen systems are complex assemblies and thoroughly testing the complete system demonstrates that BTS’ product ranges can be specified with confidence on almost any scheme including large residential developments that demand a higher level of scrutiny and performance.
“These test results are also testament to the strength and depth of our relationship with our supply chain partners, without which none of this would be possible.
“But this is just one small part of our defined testing programme. The plan is to bring all our systems up to date in accordance with the latest NHBC and CWCT requirements.”
The recent CWCT assessment on BTS’ Vantage SF product involved a series of 14 individual tests, which measured performance for air leakage, water penetration, wind resistance and impact damage.
This is in addition to the team’s success with fire tests, after having successfully passed a BS8414-2:2020 fire performance certification in 2020.
Philip Atkinson, BTS’ managing director, is delighted with the success of the recent assessment.
He said: “The news came in the same week that we become carbon neutral, so it was a double celebration for me.
“This full through wall system test is extremely onerous and challenging, so a significant amount of time and effort went into preparation and attendances, so to see these positive results is hugely rewarding.
“When we appointed Mark two years ago, I said that after £2.2 million investment in machinery and automation, our product range needed a similar level of attention and spend, and we’ve been seeing those benefits ever since Mark’s appointment.”
BTS will continue to invest in its testing programme and aim to have all its rainscreen products retested by UL Solutions in accordance with the requirements of the CWCT & NHBC by next year.
The 2023 plan will also see additional fire, weather performance and structural performance testing across all its offerings.
btsfabrications.co.uk/vantage-sf-secret-fix-rainscreen-system/
