IT IS SAFE to say that, in recentyears, the ductwork sector hascome under great pressure to provide goods and services at sub-economic prices. In fact, failure to do so has resulted insome companies being unable tosecure work. The rising cost ofmaterials, combined with marketforces, has put the industry in adifficult position.
However, ADCAS believes thatnow is the time to give the manu-facture, supply and installation ofductwork proper considerationbecause so much rests on thistechnology in terms of safety,comfort, health and energy
efficiency. What’s more, we areseeing a rising level of legislationaffecting ductwork, which reflectsincreased recognition of its impor-tance to the effective and energyefficient operation of buildings.
The main areas that clients,specifiers, and building managers,need to think about when consid-ering ductwork are quality of man-ufacture; standards of installation;ongoing maintenance and lifecycle system running costs.Decisions about these factorsshould not be led by price alone,not least because building ownersneed to know that their ductworkcomplies with regulations on
safety. Also because poor qualityductwork leads to poor perform-ance of air movement systems in abuilding and can add to energycosts in the long-term.
There is a host of legislationand guidance on ductwork thatspecifiers, contractors and build-ing owners need to be familiarwith. In general terms, the legisla-tion applies to manufacturing andinstallation standards; fire safety;and cleaning. Guidance has beenproduced by ADCAS itself, as wellas the B&ES Ductwork Group andother bodies including BSRIA andBritish Standards.
The ductwork sector has
worked hard to ensure that guid-ance for those in the industry iskept up to date with technologiesand techniques. A key example ofthis is DW144, recognised as thestandard specification for duct-work manufacture and installation.ADCAS and the B&ES DuctworkGroup have cooperated to pro-duce the most recent update ofthis internationally-recognisedpublication, due out in early 2014.
ADCAS also worked to analyseand solve a conflict between theproposed Part L and guidance inDW143 on ductwork leakage andDW144 on pressure classes. As aresult, ADCAS and B&ES were
Ductwork & ductwork cleaning
34 | February 2014 | HVR Daily news update at www.heatingandventilating.net
Ductwork deserves closer attentionMalcolm Moss, explains why ductwork needs close attention at every stage of its lifetime inorder to provide a safe, healthy and energy efficient indoor environment
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