Daniel Joyeux, president of Efectis Holding and Professor Paddy Nixon, vice-chancellor of Ulster University at the new testing facility
A new UKAS-accredited fire testing facility capable of full-scale fire research, including BS8414 façade tests, has opened in Northern Ireland.
The facility is a joint venture between fire testing and engineering firm Efectis France and Ulster University and specialises in assessing the fire performance of products, systems and entire construction projects, including fire resistance, reaction to fire, extinguishing systems and equipment.
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Equipped with a 600m2 burn wall, the facility is the only UKAS-accredited facility on the island of Ireland. It also features wall and floor furnaces for multi scale investigations in relation to fire and fire resistance testing.
Sitting on Ulster University’s Jordanstown Campus, it is underpinned by research from the Fire Safety Engineering Research and Technology Centre (FireSERT).
Tim Brundle, the university’s director of research and impact said: “As a world-leading provider of knowledge and expertise in fire safety engineering, our researchers have explored the science behind fire and fire safety and having recently secured UKAS accreditation can now facilitate full-scale testing for commercial purposes. The partnership with Efectis will help improve fire safety on the island of Ireland and across the UK and Europe to reduce the number of fire related tragedies.”
Talal Fateh, general manager of Efectis commented: “We can provide construction businesses with accredited testing services and peace of mind, we want to avoid tragedies like Grenfell Tower and to guarantee the safety of buildings, including schools and we want to maintain and sustain FireSERT as a centre of excellence in the field of fire safety science. We already have enquiries from firms in Ireland, across the UK and Europe. Efectis is actively recruiting staff to meet the anticipated demand.”
