refurbishment

When retro-fitting fire sprinkler systems, the UK Boxings range of pre-finished pipe and fire sprinkler boxing provides a consistent finish to installations by quickly and easily concealing pipework, which saves save time and money on site compared to site fabricated alternatives.

Our fire sprinkler boxing is available in two-sided ‘L’ shaped or three-sided ‘U’ shaped profiles, and are manufactured from 9mm thick moisture resistant MDF with a choice of more than 60 different standard profile sizes with length options of 2400mm or 3050 mm.

Paul Souber, with decades of experience in the safety and security sector, and a trained locksmith himself is founder and MD of Souber® Tools; established in 1990. Having worked for Chubb Locks for 13 years, he brought his extensive engineering skill to this new venture which he devoted entirely to the needs of professional locksmiths – with this comes the crossover to the door and window repair professionals. Within the locksmith trade, Souber Tool’s precision and innovation, have established a strong reputation for high quality, reliability and efficiency of service. This has fuelled our success in the domestic market and export all over the world including Australia, Japan and the United States.

Frost is the greatest threat to water services throughout the winter.  UK Water Regulations require any fitting or apparatus to be correctly insulated to prevent frost, unless in a location that is heated for more than 12 hours a day [2]. It seems obvious when you are scraping the ice from the car on a frosty morning. However, the insurance claims show that many homeowners, landlords and occupiers seem to be unaware of this requirement.

In the worst-case scenario, the replacement of water supply pipes is required.  Traditionally this has required major excavations outside a property and usually a great deal of disruption and trauma within, over several days and possibly weeks – inevitably at high cost.

With an increasing population and changes in lifestyle the UK water deficit is anticipated to be 4017 mega litres per day.  To reduce this predicted shortage, water companies are developing and implementing plans to upgrade the UKs water supply with the aim of Per Capital Consumption (PCC) from its current average of 150 litres per day to 110.

Smart meters are seen as a significant part of the solution, Thames Water have recorded post installation savings of 12-17%.  Now United Utilities have announced their plans for Advanced metering infrastructure, all new connections or meters will replaced with the latest generation of smart meters. 

EJOT UK’s Mark Newell explains why the latest additions to its ETICS range are helping the EWI industry streamline its supply chain, and maintain consistently high quality during installation for the long-term benefit of specifiers and residents.

The performance of an EWI (external wall insulation) system or ETICS (external thermal insulation composite system) is only as good as its component parts. A weak link in the system build-up will not only undermine its promise to improve the thermal performance of a property, but it could also add complexity to the installation process, resulting in additional time costs for contractors.

Of course, in England there is no regulation for the provider to equip homes with flooring other than in kitchens and bathrooms (Scotland makes no such stipulations), but with the Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2023 stating that all habitable rooms, staircases and landings should have suitable floor coverings at change of tenancy, the writing is certainly on the wall. With the Decent Homes Standard now also in review, including a look at what the expectations are for a ‘decent’ home, we may well see change that means flooring in these areas will become a requirement in England too.

In social housing applications where external pipework needs to be concealed and protected against the risk of accidental damage or vandalism, Arma metal pipe boxing provides a tough and versatile solution that also improves aesthetics and adds a uniform finish to the project.

With the increasing use of low carbon district heating schemes, as well as air-source heat pump installations, and ground source loop arrays, Arma is also an ideal option when covering pipework associated with energy efficient systems.