D2 Capabilities
Building Envelope
The facade, roof and weathering line. This is where technical content, liability and value all peak, and where a supplier who does not know what they are looking at causes damage that surfaces years later. We supply fire-classified systems only, with notified laboratory evidence traceable to the delivered batch.
01Scope
| Category | Content |
|---|---|
| Fenestration | Aluminium casement, tilt-turn, sliding, bifold, uPVC systems, entrance screens, automatic doors, louvres, hardware |
| Curtain walling | Stick and unitised systems, structural silicone glazing, spandrel, capping and pressure plate, brackets and anchors |
| Architectural glass | Float, toughened, heat-soaked, laminated, low-emissivity single, double and triple silver, insulating glass units, acoustic, fire-rated |
| Rainscreen and cladding | Fire-rated and A2 aluminium composite, solid aluminium, honeycomb, terracotta, high pressure laminate, fibre cement, insulated sandwich panel, carrier systems |
| Roofing | Standing seam and profiled metal, single-ply membrane, built-up systems, roof tile, rooflight, gutter and rainwater |
| Building physics | Rigid and mineral wool insulation, breather membrane, vapour control layer, liquid-applied and sheet waterproofing, fire stopping, cavity barrier |
02Source geography
Where it is made.
Architectural aluminium extrusion from Foshan Nanhai, specifically the Dali and Shishan systems belt, plus Zhaoqing and the Shandong extruders.
Glass from the Guangdong float and processing cluster, the Hebei and Anhui float lines, and the Qingdao and Shenzhen processors. Aluminium composite from Wenzhou, Shanghai and Guangdong. Insulated sandwich panel from Shandong, Jiangsu, Hebei and Guangdong. Terracotta rainscreen from Fujian and Guangdong.
Fenestration hardware from the European systems houses. Profile is a commodity; hardware and gaskets are not, and we specify them separately.
03What we check
Eight checks, and one absolute rule.
The envelope is the division where a plausible-looking product can be catastrophically wrong, and where the failure surfaces years after handover.
- Wall thickness, because it is the silent substitution. Domestic Chinese residential window profile routinely runs 1.2mm to 1.4mm. European specification is 1.8mm to 2.0mm minimum. A great many quotations described as export specification are quietly priced on the thinner section. We specify it in the purchase order and measure it on arrival.
- Thermal break type. PA66 GF25 polyamide strip, which is correct, against poured and debridged polyurethane, which is cheaper and weaker, against no break at all behind a product name containing the word thermal.
- Coating class, because the Gulf is unforgiving. Powder coating to Qualicoat class, anodising to Qualanod, fluoropolymer to AAMA 2605. Uncertified powder coat in a marine or Gulf environment fails within three to five years. It is the most common and most expensive facade failure in the region.
- Insulating glass unit sealant. Dual seal, being polyisobutylene primary with a silicone or polysulphide secondary, is correct. Single-seal hot melt butyl fogs within three to five years. We require EN 1279 Part 2 and Part 3 durability evidence, and check Part 6 factory production control, which is where most factories fail.
- Heat soak, and whether the plant owns an oven. EN 14179 heat soak testing is mandatory for toughened glass in overhead and structural glazing across most of Europe. Many tempering plants do not own a heat soak oven. We ask, and we inspect it.
- Coating age. Soft-coat low-emissivity glass must be sealed into a unit within roughly three to six months of coating or it oxidises. We ask for the coating date.
- Fire classification traceable to the batch. We require the EN 13501-1 classification report from a notified laboratory, stating the exact panel construction, matched to the delivered goods by batch. We do not accept a factory's own fire performance claim.
- Skin thickness, with a micrometer. True architectural aluminium composite has a 0.5mm aluminium skin. Signage grade at 0.21mm to 0.30mm is routinely sold as architectural. We measure every consignment.
04Standards and conformity
| Market | Requirement |
|---|---|
| European Union and United Kingdom | CE or UKCA to EN 14351-1 (windows and doors), EN 13830 (curtain walling), EN 1279 (insulating units), EN 12150 and EN 14449 (glass), EN 14509 (sandwich panel), EN 13501-1 reaction to fire. United Kingdom Building Safety Act 2022 product liability applies. |
| United States | AAMA/WDMA/CSA 101/I.S.2/A440, NFPA 285, Florida Product Approval, Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance with TAS 201, TAS 202 and TAS 203 in the High Velocity Hurricane Zone |
| Gulf | SASO, ECAS, Civil Defence listing for cladding and insulation, fire-rated cladding mandatory on tall buildings |
| Australia | AS 2047, AS 1288, AS 4284, AS 5113, state restrictions on combustible panel |
05Commercial parameters
- Fenestration
- Project-quoted per square metre of opening against a minimum project value, not a unit minimum.
- Profile
- Sold by the tonne, which means the price is aluminium plus conversion plus a finish adder, and is therefore quoted on short validity.
- Lead time
- 35 to 60 days for made-to-measure systems, longer where a bespoke extrusion die is required. Glass processing 15 to 30 days once float is available.
- Packing
- Insulating units ship in plywood crates with desiccant, not steel racks. Crating is a material cost line and we specify it.
Enquire about building envelope.
Send the specification, the schedule or the drawing package. We will confirm what we can supply, the conformity route for your market, and a delivered programme.
Request a quotation