24
FEBRUARY 2016 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
FIRE CONSULTANCY
FIRM ADDS NEW ARM
International Fire Consultants Ltd (IFC), established in 1985,
is an independent practice of experienced professional
fire safety engineers and product specialists.
The practice has around 50
staff operating from offices in the UK, Netherlands,
Cyprus and United Arab
Emirates. It offers expertise
from government scientific
establishments, the fire service, manufacturing, building control, commercial fire
testing laboratories and the
construction sector.
ers to make sure that they comply
with the relevant legislation.”
Using accredited testing labs,
IFC works on projects from small
refurbishment works up to large
ing those to endorse businesses’
products.
It was a natural progression for
the business to assist clients to
test their products to standards
‘It can be difficult for product manufacturers
and suppliers to make sure that they
comply with the relevant legislation’
Account Director Jeff Brydon
explained: “In order to sell or
use a product, manufacturers or
suppliers often need to make sure
it meets certain fire performance
criteria.
“Exact requirements can be complex, with typical issues such as
international variation in fire standards. It can therefore be difficult for
product manufacturers and suppli-
national infrastructure or building
schemes. Among them is Heathrow
Terminal 5 where IFC provided a
peer review of previous fire engineers and consultants’ work.
IFC recently decided to diversify
further by adding a new arm in the
consultation and testing for other
areas of British Standards, includ-
acceptable for new building regulations and help see them included
in schemes, such as Secured by
Design.
IFC will be attending the FIT
show in Telford from 12 to 14 April
2016 for the first time.
The alternative is one fitter leaning out of the window supporting
the weight of the sash whilst a
second fitter works around the
first fitter, removing the friction
stay fixings and taking the sash
into the building for repairs.
Accessories for the tools have
also been designed to make jobs
even safer.
The Sashmate tools have been
around now for over 10 years and
are now recommended by the
industry body for windows and
doors; Glass and Glazing Federation and are also recommended in
the Code of Practice for Work at
Height.
Contact [email protected]
Sashmate enables
much safer repairs
Experienced repair people know that
replacing or repairing a window sash
can be a tricky task and carries risks
to the health and safety of one person
having to hold the window, of which some
windows may exceed 25kg which could
be dropped in the middle of the repair.
Glazesafe, producers of
Sashmate a ‘clamp and brace
tool’ tells how the product is
designed for repair people to
enable them to carry out the
repair, even if working alone.
There are six different sized friction stays used on top hung sashes; 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 24 inches and
two on side hung; 12 and 16 inches. There are also varying styles
of stays including; easy clean, fire
egress child safety. There are also
three different depths: 13mm,
15mm and 17mm. Friction stays
can be used on aluminium, wooden and PVCu window frames,
depending on the system.
A double glazed PVCu sash’s
weight is roughly worked out as
25kg/m² and as the sash must be
supported in an almost fully opened
position to allow for repair, the fitter
may have to lean out of an open
window, to take the weight.
Taking out the complete sash can
be very useful, not just for replacing the broken friction stays but
also to replace a broken externally
glazed sash or an espagnolette
locking system.
The correct way to carry out
repairs above ground floor should
ultimately be done so using
equipment like a tower, however
sometimes this is not possible.
See the step-by-step guide
on how to use the Sashmate
on page 31 in this month’s
Pro Installer or visit
www.glazesafe.com