Warringtonfire’s Birchwood Park laboratory earns award for environmental and social value standards

by Breaking NewsSustainability

Warringtonfire Laboratory at Birchwood Park recognised with Considerate Constructors Bronze Award

Warringtonfire’s upcoming laboratory at Birchwood Park has been recognised with a Considerate Constructors Bronze Award in partnership with main contractor Tilbury Douglas.

The award recognises the efforts of construction sites, organisations, and suppliers who commit to raising environmental and community social value standards.

The Birchwood Park site, which is nearing completion, achieved a perfect 45 out of 45 score.

The site was judged on three pillars: respect for the community, care for the environment, and value for the workforce.

It received top marks in all categories and was praised for its environmental and social policies.

Warringtonfire and Tilbury Douglas implemented various measures to demonstrate the social value of the site.

These included an open doors week, hosting a Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity site presentation on mental health, and promoting health and wellbeing conversations.

The teams also made charitable donations to Warrington Youth Zone and the Trussell Trust Food Bank and purchased sanitary products for the workplace via the Hey Girls social enterprise.

Engineering workshop roller shutter
ESP stacks in west plant room
wall furnace gantry
Wall furnaces with hood support frame

Environmental initiatives and ISO 14001 accreditation

The report highly commended Warringtonfire and Tilbury Douglas for the project’s environmental pledges.

These included a Net Zero 2050 carbon reduction plan, avoiding diesel-powered plant and equipment during construction, promoting the use of HVO fuel, and planting over 50 trees.

Tilbury Douglas’ ISO 14001 accreditation, the international standard for environmental management systems, further reinforced the project’s commitment to environmental protection and sustainability.

Local students from Warrington Vale and Royal College were welcomed to the site throughout National Apprenticeship Week, with several offered future work experience placements.

Iwan Lewis, Project Manager of the site for Tilbury Douglas, said: “Investing in the next generation of construction professionals is a key priority for my team and together with Warringtonfire we have actively engaged in educational outreach activities with Warrington and Vale Royal College to address the skills shortage in the construction and fire stopping industries.”

Future plans for the Birchwood Park laboratory

The 101,000 square foot Birchwood Park site is set to be the new hub for Warringtonfire’s fire testing services.

Due to open its doors in January 2025, it will triple the company’s testing capacity.

The laboratory will have two vertical furnaces, two horizontal furnaces, and one indicative furnace ready for test specimens when it launches, with two more furnaces to be added by the end of 2026.

Phil Shaw, Managing Director at Tilbury Douglas, said: “It’s a great result and evidences the team’s inherent culture on site driving our sustainability strategy, ‘People, Planet, and Performance’, or PPP, which sets out to deliver improved social and environmental outcomes for our business, customers, and supply chain.”

Community impact and outreach

The site has had a notable impact on the local community through various outreach efforts.

Dafydd Llewelyn-Jones, Project Manager for Element Materials Technology, said: “This award recognises all the hard work put into the project, both from our team and Tilbury Douglas.

“We’re particularly proud of our social value scores, especially our outreach with the local community.

“Warrington has always been our home, so it is important that we continue to make valuable contributions to both the next generation and the environment.”

Martin Horne, Regional Director at Tilbury Douglas, said: “We are proud of the value created through our partnership, the successful outcomes achieved, and the alignment of goals and values between our organisations.”

Warringtonfire enhances fire safety testing with new SBI equipment

by ConstructionFeatured News

New SBI testing equipment installed at Warringtonfire

Warringtonfire has invested in new equipment to increase capacity for single-burning item (SBI) testing of construction products at its Holmesfield Road laboratory in Warrington.

As reported by Warringtonfire, SBI testing is a key method for assessing a product’s reaction to fire performance.

This includes measuring lateral flame spread, rate of heat release, propensity for the production of flaming droplets, and the rate and amount of smoke production.

The new equipment, commissioned in June, will be used to test various construction products, including wall and ceiling coverings and linear pipe insulation, in line with BS EN 13823.

Details of the SBI testing process

The SBI test utilises a 30kW propane-powered sandbox burner to simulate a wastepaper basket or small chair fire.

The test specimens are mounted on two vertically oriented walls arranged to form a 90° open corner.

Warringtonfire’s Holmesfield Road laboratory is one of a few UKAS-accredited sites in the UK offering SBI testing.

This new equipment is the latest in a series of major investments by parent company Element Materials Technology in Warrington.

Future developments in Warringtonfire facilities

The investment follows the announcement of a new $30 million fire resistance facility at Birchwood Park, set to open in January 2025.

This 101k sq. ft laboratory will triple the current testing capacity in Warrington.

Upon the opening of the Birchwood Park facility, the Holmesfield Road laboratory will become a centre of excellence for reaction to fire testing.

It will continue to operate small-scale testing for flame spread and heat release.

Leigh Hill, Director at Warringtonfire, said: “Single-burning item testing is a critical stage in bringing a new construction product to market in a safe and responsible way.

“It can help stakeholders make informed decisions on fire safety and material selection, safe in the knowledge that the product in question will perform as expected if a fire does occur.”

Hill added: “The additional SBI testing facility at our Holmesfield Road laboratory will provide much-needed UKAS-accredited capacity for the manufacturers of construction products, while also proving a key milestone in our long-term plan to transform the site into a centre of excellence for reaction to fire testing in the UK.”

Warringtonfire marks 50 years of fire testing

by Featured NewsSafety

This year marks 50 years of fire testing for Warringtonfire. It was in 1972 that the first commercial fire test was undertaken at a newly completed fire testing laboratory in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. 50 years later, what is believed to be the UK’s oldest existing fire resistance testing laboratory, continues to operate. Today, it is one of Warringtonfire’s main sites and is a centre of excellence for the testing of timber fire doors.

In addition to being an early pioneer in fire testing, Warringtonfire has remained at the forefront of the industry. Through its collaboration with trade associations and standards committees, including ASFP, BSI, CEN and FTSG, Warringtonfire’s team of technical experts continue to play a pivotal role in raising standards in the fire protection industry.

Recognising how much customers rely on specialist technical knowledge to support them through the testing process, Warringtonfire has continued to invest in building a world class team of technical experts and has one of the largest global teams in the industry.

Leigh Hill, Division Director for Warringtonfire said: “I’m immensely proud in reaching this key milestone and of the contribution we have made to raising standards in the fire protection industry over the past 50 years. Many of our customers and even some of our colleagues have been with us on our incredible journey and I’d like to thank them for their continued support. Looking ahead, we remain committed to carrying on the important work we do, helping to ensure we are making tomorrow safer than today.”

Warringtonfire upgrades laboratory following UKCA certification demand

by ActiveFeatured News

Warringtonfire, a fire testing, inspection, and certification service provider, has said to have made significant investments in its High Wycombe fire resistant testing laboratory to meet the anticipated growth in demand ahead of the UKCA Mark deadline.

The transformation of the facility includes refurbishment of its onsite fire resistance and smoke laboratories. This comprises new smoke testing equipment, a complete re-lining of two test furnaces as well as installation of a new cold abatement system to extract test fumes from the fire laboratory environment.

Alongside the additional fire resistance testing equipment, Warringtonfire’s acoustics laboratory has also been revamped, with new acoustic measuring equipment to enhance and improve testing capabilities.

Lee Wade, general manager, Warringtonfire High Wycombe said: “We have seen a surge in demand for the smoke testing of products. This is being driven by both regulatory changes, such as the looming UKCA Mark deadline coming into effect from January 2023, as well as an increasing appreciation from our customers of the value that testing and certification adds to their products.

“That’s why, despite the uncertainty Covid-19 has generated within the industry throughout the past two years, we have committed to significant capital investment to ensure our laboratory is the benchmark for fire testing, inspection and certification here in the UK. In turn, this will help our clients ensure they can continue to market their products in line with the very latest regulations, in a timely and efficient way.”

Further investment has also been made to improve the facility’s sustainability credentials, with the installation of a new cold abatement system to extract fumes and odours from the test area, as well as fitting LED lighting throughout the laboratory. Alongside this, the company has added more floor space through a new purpose-built building to ease congestion and improve working conditions, allowing staff to build test specimens away from the furnace.

New digital viewing technology has also been introduced at Warringtonfire High Wycombe. The package enables customers to watch live product testing remotely at higher quality and has the capability to share live test data from Warringtonfire’s control system

“Given the changing ways we and our clients have had to adapt, we’ve increased our focus on digital technology. This includes new video packages, better viewing angles of tests in ultra-high definition, and the ability to zoom in on specific areas of the test and our furnaces,” said Wade.

“In order to maximise the potential of the investments made throughout the site, we’ve also embarked on an internal programme to train and upskill our colleagues in testing capabilities, technical qualifications, and project management. This will help our clients stay ahead of any regulatory changes, such as the UKCA Mark, and help them continually improve their products.”