Bahrain-based Façade Design & Services Company (FDS) has signed an agreement with United Enterprises to fully operate its testing laboratory, providing complete independent building materials and system testing at the Laboratory Centre being developed in Bahrain.

The joint operation, to be known as United Facade Design & Services (UFDS), will be part of the Phase Two development that will provide enhanced testing of building materials and envelope systems with samples being tested to the full static and dynamic test standards within the Bahrain-based UFDS laboratory and ‘onsite’ locations.

Phase One provides onsite testing under AAMA/ASTM and CWCT (Centre for Window and Cladding Technology) standard provisions.

The laboratory testing was scheduled to be operational last month and fully operational providing static/dynamic weather and acoustic testing by May 2015.

The company also provides both ballistic and bomb blast mitigation testing in the UK, and intends to extend the range of security glazing system testing at the Bahrain-based UFDS Test Centre.