Gas Membrane Validation & Testing for Protection Installation
As well as design and installation, another crucial area of work for UK Membranes is testing and validation. This ensures that all installations meet the justified demands of legislation and the latest regulations to bring peace of mind and assurance to all the company’s clients.
Consultant Michael Coburn, of MEC Environmental, provides independent and robust testing and validation services exclusively to the company which guarantees that all work is rigorously examined. This technical expertise and knowledge of all requirements is invaluable in an arena that can be complex for many clients.
With the introduction of the BS8485:2015, all sites requiring gas protection measures need to achieve a minimum number of points, as set out in table 4 of this document.
UK Membranes can offer advice on how to achieve the required number of points to ensure that your scheme is compliant with BS8485:2015.
When the above document was updated one of the major changes to the points system was the need to have the installation of the gas membrane independently verified and tested to the requirements of CIRIA C735. If a gas barrier installation is NOT independently verified then no points can be claimed for the gas barrier.
In order to discharge planning consent and remove CML red classifications the regulators WILL insist that a verification report is submitted prior to discharge of these conditions.
By using a qualified installer the risk of costly and time-consuming delays due to failed installations is greatly reduced. All our installation teams are qualified to NVQ Level 2 in gas membrane installations.
Annex 1 of CIRIA C735 sets out the recommended frequency of testing to multi-plot or multi-pour sites. By using a qualified installer the number of independent inspection visits and frequency of testing is greatly reduced.
In most instances CIRIA C735 states that when using NO qualified operatives to install the gas protection system, 100% of the installation must be independently inspected by a third-party consultant.
Whilst we have to remain independent of the verification consultant we are aware of consultants that have been employed on previous projects to verify and test our installations and we can pass on these details if required.
