Launch of Building Envelope Services
SOCOTEC, the UK’s leading provider of testing, inspection and certification services, has introduced Building Envelope Consultancy, as part of its Building and Real Estate offering.
Offering independent and unbiased technical consultancy, primarily to owners, developers and architects, the Building Envelope department will be able to provide services related to new construction facades, existing building facades, and roofing and waterproofing, targeting mid-sized and large projects.
Building Envelope is not new to SOCOTEC - SOCOTEC US already provides Building Envelope consultancy services across the USA, with more than 30 years of experience and 117 people working on both national and international projects. Notable projects include One, Three, Four and Seven World Trade Center, One Vanderbilt, and 53 W 53 in New York and Millennium Tower in Boston.
Nick Harper, managing director, Building & Real Estate, explains: “As part of our existing services, we provide external walls assessment from a fire safety perspective, which is based on the recently released PAS 9980 guidance, and our recommendations may include the partial or complete replacement of a facade.
“Following notable fires - which involve rapid spread along external walls - 12,000 high-rise buildings in the UK and overseas are being investigated. The findings show that a lot of them feature some sort of risks associated with the materials used, and the construction quality. The UK government has released several schemes in the past few years (£5.1b combined to date) to help building owners fund the remediation costs. The launch of Building Envelope consultancy is the opportunity for SOCOTEC UK to not only offer external wall assessments but also to provide design services for the replacement works of these external walls.”
