Technical Data Sheets: Documents Often Overlooked

As we all know, construction defects significantly impact our economy in general, regardless of the position of the affected protagonists.

However, the savings in the construction or renovation industry can considerably influence the delivery date and project cost or impact the quality, performance or simply the longevity of a construction in the more or less long term.

Nowadays, many manufacturers producing materials or technical solutions in the construction industry must provide detailed technical data sheets and installation guides with their products. Upon consulting these data sheets, we can learn the key elements (good practice) or the requirements to be respected when installing or using them.

The following represent these facets:

• Product compatibility with other materials such as oil‑based undercoats used with water-based paint or glue;
• Conditions of use, such as using a product outside the prescribed temperature ranges;
• Particularities to be respected in terms of installation conditions (weather, geographical location).

Various players in the construction industry all too often ignore these crucial technical details and thus unnecessarily expose themselves to potential liability claims.

However, we must emphasize that the technicality of various products becomes more and more sophisticated when reading and analyzing the technical data sheet of the product prior to the works envisaged.

At Pyrotech BEI, our expertise pertaining to the installation quality, the nature of the materials used and their chemical compatibility goes far beyond the simple observation of the damage. We can identify its source and the underlying reasons for the failure(s).

Furthermore, we can be proactive and guide you, as well as your clients, in the winning conditions that will ensure an efficient and technical installation or application of various materials or products according to good practice and the manufacturers’ specifications.

By Frédéric Busnel, Ph. D
Metallurgical Engineering and Chemistry Department | Materials