As building safety becomes ever more important, specifiers need to understand exactly how products are controlled, tested and validated during manufacture. With specifiers now asking manufacturers for reassurance on product performance, it is essential to examine the testing regimes, quality assurance procedures and traceability measures that underpin each product. Demonstrating how internal testing is carried out and how consistency is maintained across production batches can give specifiers peace of mind.
As roofs provide a crucial part of a building’s defence against the elements, roofing products in particular demand such attention. But what tests, and results, should you be looking for? Glidevale Protect’s pitched roofing membranes are subjected to several tests to demonstrate how they will stand up to real-world use, which are implemented in accordance with BS EN 13859-1&2.
Stringent quality control testing is undertaken on various aspects of performance including tensile strength and elongation (BS EN 12311-1), nail tear resistance (BS EN 12310-1), shear resistance of joints and overlaps between adjacent sheets (BS EN 12317-2) as well as dimensional stability (BS EN 1107-2). Additional tests validate performance for vapour permeability (BS EN ISO 12572), hydrostatic head, which measures the resistance of fabrics to water penetration using a hydrostatic pressure test (BS EN 20811) and resistance to water penetration (BS EN 1928 or BS EN 13111).
Artificial ageing tests in accordance with BS EN 13859-1&2 are another important way to assess the long-term durability of a membrane product via artificial exposure to UV radiation and elevated heat. Glidevale Protect’s tests exceed the standard’s minimum requirements, ensuring compliance with technical product data and standards, validating how they will perform once installed.
As well as meeting existing requirements, manufacturers can also play an important role in helping to develop best practice standards. For example, wind uplift, governed by BS 5534, is a critical performance factor for pitched roofs.
During the development of this standard back in 2005, a wind pressure test (Annex A) was introduced to determine the wind uplift resistance of self-supporting roofing underlays in terms of their scope of application and classification. Glidevale Protect was instrumental in developing the wind uplift resistance test rig in conjunction with BBA and BRE.
Glidevale Protect’s own wind uplift test rig was used to inform various improvements to the apparatus and test method being incorporated into requirements contained within BS 5534. This test rig in its current form, which is used to test Glidevale Protect’s roofing membranes in the laboratory, is now one of the few rigs in circulation in the UK for compliance testing to BS 5534.
TRANSPARENCY AND TRACEABILITY
Quality control and rigorous in-house testing are also central to ensuring product traceability. At Glidevale Protect we enforce strict quarantine procedures if any products fail batch testing as well as operating a batch tracking system for traceability. A batch number is printed onto the membrane, linking every product back to its original production and test data. Additional checks such as adhesion and peel testing, which are not currently required through standard compliance testing, provide an additional level of quality control.
Most standard tests methods set out a minimum frequency for testing to be conducted, for example, water resistance penetration tests are required to be carried out once every 40 shifts, but more regular testing ensures faster issue detection, reduced downtime and less wasted product. In most cases, Glidevale Protect exceeds these minimum requirements, with many of the tests being conducted around one in every six shifts or even one test per shift.
BUILDING CONFIDENCE
Knowledge is power and the more specifiers are able to understand about how products are tested and can review the technical controls that sit behind certification, the risks of products failing on site can be significantly reduced. For Glidevale Protect, technical transparency and robust testing go hand in hand and we are committed to ensuring specifiers have the information they need to make informed choices at their fingertips. www.glidevaleprotect.com/roofing