When planning a building construction, one of the most important things to consider is fire protection. This is because minimizing fire risk, especially in buildings close to public places such as school, hospitals, and mass transit terminals, can be difference between keeping people safe and losing many precious lives.
Additional
ly, the building’s owners and the construction company that built it are at a potential risk of a lawsuit. Surely, no building owner or construction company wants this. Therefore, it is in the interest of the building owners and the construction company to ensure that all materials used in the building comply with the national and local safety and environment standards for buildings.
In case of fire protection, this would mean choosing fire retardant building materials that ensure there is minimal damage to the structure and no loss of human life. Unfortunately, in hopes of saving some money, many consumers choose non-certified aluminum composite material (ACM) over certified aluminum composite materialthat has many qualities such as being fire retardant.
Instead of saving money, these consumers end up spending more in the long term on maintenance and repair work and of course there is the potential risk of a lawsuit in case something goes wrong in the building.
Where ACM is Used in Buildings and Why Choosing Certified ACM is Critical
Initially, the ACM was used on parts of a building as an architectural feature. However, today the material covers the entire building. This shows how far the ACM has come since its initial days. The most commonly used ACM material in building is an aluminum composite panel (ACP). Although used primarily as a cladding for a building’s external architecture, ACP has many other applications including false ceilings, partitions etc.
In the signage industry, panels made from ACM are used as a alternative to the costlier and heavier substrates. Compared to these materials, the ACP is lighter in weight. Furthermore, it is resistant to all kinds of extreme weather conditions and has great mechanical, acoustic, and thermal properties.
There are several reasons for go for ACPs over its alternatives including the panel’s light weight, durability, flexibility, efficiency, innovative design, and cost-effectiveness. However, you need to keep in mind that these are qualities of panels made from certified aluminum composite material. You may not get some or any of these benefits if you opt for a non-certified ACM. So, what are the risks of choosing a non-certified ACM for your building? These risks are as follows:
· High risk of catching fire
· Increased maintenance needed
· More repair work required than certified ACM during its lifetime
· Low resistance to extreme weather conditions
· Non compliance with the national and local safety and environmental standards for ACMs
Final Word
Here, we’ve posted just a few of the many risks of choosing non-certified ACM over certified aluminum composite material. Therefore, you should always choose certified ACM over its non-certified counterpart even its upfront cost is much higher that non-certified ACM. This will serve you well.
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