Exova Warrington Fire at Forefront of Facade Testing in Australia

Exova Warringtonfire, the leading fire testing and fire engineering organisation, has invested in new external fire cladding testing capabilities at its laboratory in Dandenong, Australia.

The investment has introduced a new façade support rig and additional instrumentation to expand Exova’s existing fire testing capabilities. The Dandenong laboratory can now test to the recently developed standard AS 5113:2016, which provides a framework for fire propagation and classification of external walls of buildings. This standard refers to test methods BS8414 part 1 and 2 2015 and ISO 13785-2:2002, depending on client requirements. AS 5113:2016 also provides a test and classification procedure of testing for building-to-building fire spread requirements, with testing in conjunction with AS1530.4:2014.

Exova Warringtonfire globally offers a comprehensive range of impartial fire safety services, with over 200 different reaction to fire and fire resistance test capabilities meeting international specifications. The new capability was developed while the standard AS 5113 was still in draft form in order to offer its customers the most up to date, fulsome, and technically demanding services.

Peter Downer, director of Exova Warringtonfire in Australia, said: “This is a brand new testing capability and one that offers great value for our customers. We are already in the process of planning further investments to increase our capacity for façade testing in anticipation of growing demand.

“Exova is always at the forefront of new technologies and our expert teams are actively involved in the development of new test procedures. This is a new and exciting test development for us, and for our customers, and it’s something we’re looking forward to evolving.”