37 THE door industry journal summer 2022 Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk Industry News Part L Changes Likely to Prompt a Surge in UKCA Testing Demand for Door and Window Fabricators Incoming changes to Part L of the Building Regulations are likely to intensify testing demand in the run-up to the December 31 2022 deadline for UKCA certification. The warning, from Element Materials Technology – one of the UK’s leading testing and certification service providers to the construction industry – comes in advance of scheduled changes to Part L, which took effect on 15 June 2022. As part of a shift towards lowering domestic CO2 production through the Future Building Standard, all new doors and windows entering the market from that date must meet new mandated U-values. However, any existing products currently on the market which meet the new mandated U-values must still achieve UKCA marking in order to be sold in the UK from 1 January 2023. The requirement is likely to affect hundreds of products manufactured outside of the UK, even if they have achieved CE marking in the country of manufacture. UKCA marking can only be issued by an approved body listed on the UK government’s database. As there are only a small number of approved bodies, manufacturers who have not yet started or completed the process could find themselves under pressure to secure laboratory space with just six months left until the UKCA marking requirements come into force. Chris Bryan, Senior Test Engineer at Element Materials Technology – Wednesbury, comments: “On the surface, the changes to minimum U-values set out in the updates to Part L are straightforward. Indeed, a sizeable majority of products currently in circulation are already compliant. “The real issue is that any product that has been CE-marked in another country – even if it meets the U-value requirements set out in the changes to Part L – will need to be re-tested in the UK to achieve UKCA marking to continue being sold here from the start of next year.” Chris continues: “The realisation is really starting to take effect amongst the international fabrication community. We have already seen a surge in demand in recent weeks and only expect that to increase as we get closer to the UKCA deadline. I would strongly urge any fabricators who either manufacture overseas or are looking to meet the new requirements to book UKCA testing now to ensure a smooth transition.” To find out more about UKCA testing, please visit www.element.com/product-qualification-testing-services/ukca-mark-guidance . “The new requirement is that annual inspections are undertaken on flat entrance doors and quarterly checks on all fire doors in the common parts. This is the responsible person’s role, and we support this wholeheartedly; this includes, for example, gaps around the doors, as well as the hardware such as door closers,” explains dhf’s Head of Commercial Operations, Patricia Sowsbery-Stevens. “We believe this is a long time in coming, but there are several benefits for our members and the industry,” Patricia continues. “Most importantly, this change will ‘raise the bar’ for safety across the sector. Our members are ready to embrace this change as many will be supplying the new complete fire doorsets to the installation companies, the components of which will have been tested together. If this reminder of the tragedy that happened five years ago has taught us anything, it is that third-party certified complete doorsets and compartmentation are key to help minimise the spread of fire. “The announcement brings together the ‘golden thread of information’ referred to by Dame Judith Hackitt in her report, the passing down of information that is vital in ensuring that when maintaining the product, any repairs that may be required do not compromise the integrity of the fire doorset. dhf welcomes this new legislation and continues to urge those in positions of responsibility to seek the correct training concerning the inspection, installation, and maintenance of fire doorsets.” She concluded, “there has been a lot of behind-the-scenes activity over the past five years and now, I believe we are starting to see the changes coming through; we look forward to embracing them all.” www.dhfonline.org.uk
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mzg2Nzk=