uPVC Windows of dark oak finish by Lingel
that their products will survive till the mentioned time, warns Mario Schmidt. They provide products at the price requested by the customer, but of poor quality, cutting down on all the technical specifications. Speaking on the absence of industry standards, Höllrigl states that there is plenty of excellent documentation in the public domain to ensure that well-known brands do not suffer. Standards or guidelines are missing is simply a myth, he adds. In the absence of the standard by BIS (which is still at the final stage with the department), and to assure the right movement of the industry, in February 2016 UWDMA introduced its guidelines for uPVC doors and windows fabrication and demands on materials. This provides a good practice guide and answers to numerous questions raised by fabricators, architects and builders. Talking about the standards, Höllrigl adds that within the supply chain, from extrusion tooling, raw materials (PVC and its additives) and to finished uPVC profiles, everyone works with EN 12608-1:2016. They test the materials/products, in accordance with the relevant clauses. EN 12608 has been officially introduced in 2003 and adopted worldwide as the most comprehensive product standard. According to Nandha Kumar, some of the technical issues which occur due to absence of industry standards are:
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Discolouration due to UV impact; non-compliance of right grade of TiO2 usage and insufficient dosage. Poor durability resulted by poor mechanical properties (charpy impact strength, tensile impact strength, flexural modulus of elasticity, Vicat Softening Temperature (VST), weld strength) due to dosage of inferior grades of raw material.
NEED FOR WINDOW LABELLING Taking Europe and US window labelling as a benchmark will be a great idea to improve consumer information in India, notes Hemjith A Vengateri. Probably, some adaptations will be necessary, but by following the main principles, window performance labelling is something definitely feasible in the near future. Amit Klinger too agrees that labelling programme will certainly help customers choose quality window system, based on their budget. It will create more awareness among the end users and will result in overall improvement of quality and reliability across the region. So, the labelling programme is a must in a country like India, where literacy rate is very low with a wide variety of product offerings available in the market to choose from. Mario says that UDMA is going to introduce the window labelling programme shortly. “We are showcasing this proposal to architects across the country and based on the final feedback