Test and collaborate for a safer built environment

John McComb, Technical Director at Reynaers Aluminium UK, examines how manufacturers are providing crucial help to principal designers to ensure the highest levels of safety.

Principal Designers have always been central to risk management during a project’s pre-construction phase. However, the introduction of the BSA has catapulted the role to greater prominence, broadening its responsibility with an increased focus on compliance, structural integrity, and fire safety. This heightened scrutiny means that Principal Designers are more reliant than ever on manufacturers to provide tested, transparent data and collaborative technical support, ensuring that compliance is embedded in all projects. 

This support must begin at the specification stage. At Reynaers, for example, the technical team works closely with the Principal Designer at the start of a project to ensure the systems specified are tailored to meet employer requirements, project-specific performance requirements, and regulatory obligations. This enables manufacturers to fully support Principal Designers, evaluating products and designs before construction begins to ensure compliance is built into the building right from the design stage. 

At the heart of compliance is tested data and the BSA makes performance evidence non-negotiable. The Reynaers Technology Centre, in Belgium, offers a rigorous and robust testing programme involving water tightness, thermal insulation, noise reduction, and air permeability to ensure that performance claims are fully verified.

This tested data is then made digitally available to customers and stakeholders to share via Reynaers’ DigiTrace system, a kind of digital product passport which is designed to hold product and project-specific information and relevant data. 

This gives all users immediate access to all the shared product data and evidence of compliance which is designed to provide all stakeholders with everything they need at each stage and throughout the full lifecycle of the building by scanning a QR code attached to the window, door or curtain wall product. 

Digital tools are set to play an increasingly central role in enabling Principal Designers to meet their obligations under the BSA. Beyond BIM modelling, Reynaers offers a host of digital tools. These include a virtual reality platform called Avalon VR, which creates an immersive 3D environment where building designs can be explored in detail before construction. 

Using advanced visualisation, designers, specifiers and contractors can walk through projects, test design choices, and identify potential risks or clashes early on in a project. It also facilitates real-time collaboration, performance simulation, and alignment on specification, ensuring the Principal Designer and project team can make informed, compliant decisions while bringing the architectural vision to life. 

Compliance also depends on reliable delivery. Reynaers works closely with a network of trusted commercial fabricators, fostering long-standing partnerships to ensure systems are manufactured and installed to the highest standards. 

The role of the Principal Designer has never carried greater weight but also sees them better positioned to drive up standards across the built environment. However, this cannot be done in isolation. Responsible manufacturers need to set a benchmark for how the supply chain must step up: delivering tested and transparent data, engineering bespoke technical solutions, embedding digital tools to safeguard the golden thread, and collaborating openly with designers, contractors, and fabricators. 

www.reynaers.co.uk