United Façade Design and Services (UFDS), an independent building materials/systems testing centre operated by Bahrain-based Facade Design and Services, has been awarded an additional scope of accreditation following assessment by ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation provider DAC.

This confirms UFDS’s ability to provide laboratory-based wind/dynamic weather testing at onsite locations, the company tells Gulf Construction.

Commenting on the award, company managing director Peter Bustin says: “UFDS has undertaken a number of AAMA (American Architectural Manufacturers Association) and CWCT (Centre for Window and Cladding Technology) dynamic test sequences onsite, providing clients with the all-important information relating to the actual installed systems making up the building envelope.”

UFDS continues to develop the facility growing from a single chamber to four individual chambers, accommodating system samples ranging in size from 1x1.5 m to 12x5 m.

In response to local demand, UFDS has recently made provision to undertake both onsite and laboratory-based acoustic testing – including for ASTM E336, E90, E966 and C426 and ISO 16283, ISO 10848 and ISO 10140 (1-5) standards – for building material samples and installed systems. The laboratory testing and flanking chamber is able to accommodate test sample modules up to an overall size of 4 m wide and 4 m high.

UFDS provides testing of façade systems and building materials to establish performance U-values, condensation/dew point levels and heat transfer in accordance with AAMA 1503-09, ASTM C976, ASTM C1199, ASTM C1363 and ASTM E1424 requirements. 

Bustin says the company is committed to continuous improvement and investment through 2018, with the expansion of its testing range to include system security testing, ballistic and blast system testing, fire testing of designed systems, glass performance and quality testing for light transmittance, colour, U-value and surface stress as required under ASTM C1048, ASTM C1279 and ASTM C1649.

Furthermore, UFDS provides a wide range of onsite forensic services for clients experiencing issues such as water ingress, high humidity levels and spontaneous glass breakage.