UKAS Testing

Article Overview

The article underscores the importance of testing structural materials for safety and compliance. UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) accreditation ensures rigorous standards, reliable results, global recognition, and regulatory compliance. Choosing UKAS-accredited labs offers confidence in quality and international acceptance of results, ensuring peace of mind and product satisfaction.

Meet safety regulations and comply with relevant standards.

The capabilities of structural materials must be proven to meet safety regulations and comply with relevant standards. Not only does this give peace of mind to customers, but also helps to ensure satisfaction with the end result.

Product testing encompasses two main veins: field testing and laboratory testing. Field testing involves assessing the material in areas where it is likely to be used, such as on project sites, to determine how it performs in its intended environments. Laboratory testing involves taking samples of a material and assessing it in a laboratory setting to provide a detailed analysis of the performance of the material’s unique composition.

Having recorded and proven laboratory results is a great peace of mind for customers when choosing the right material for their project, but the chosen laboratory that carries out the testing is just as important.

What is UKAS?

The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the national accreditation body for the UK. It assesses organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and collaboration services.

You may have seen us share previously that we’ve received ISO certification in areas like health and safety and environmental management. As an example of where UKAS sits in the hierarchy of standards and regulations, ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) sets the global standards for products and services, and UKAS oversees these standards across various industries.

A wide variety of industries can benefit from UKAS testing, from healthcare and food safety to energy and construction. At Dura, we believe that investing in UKAS laboratory testing is a valuable tool to ensure our products are performing to the best of their ability.

Why is UKAS accreditation important?

Not all laboratories are equal, and the technical competency of different labs can vary. Some labs may use different testing processes to others, have different equipment and methods of maintaining and calibrating them, and use different recording procedures. Choosing the wrong lab to conduct your product testing can bring uncertainty about the validity of the results received and may leave you paying for expensive retests with a second facility.

We choose UKAS testing labs for our products, because:

• We can assure the quality of the results – UKAS-accredited labs must adhere to stringent quality standards, giving us peace of mind that the results are reliable and accurate. There is an extremely low risk of errors and inaccuracies compared to other available laboratories.
• The results have international recognition – the results from UKAS testing labs are accepted and understood globally, so no matter where our customers are, they can be confident in our testing procedures.
• Our products are compliant – UKAS testing labs ensure the tests meet all regulatory requirements.
• The tests were completed to the highest standard – UKAS testing labs are continuously enhancing their testing methodologies, meaning that at the point of assessment, the tests used were to the highest standard for that time.

To ensure full satisfaction with your chosen products, opting for a company that invests in UKAS lab testing can provide confidence and peace of mind in its product’s abilities.