National Gypsum’s testing lab in Buffalo, NY, and its Fire Testing Team have helped the company earn significant new UL listings.

“We must have UL-approved, fire-rated products and wall assemblies to compete in the marketplace,” said Product Manager Chris Pinckney. “Several years ago, we formed a team to identify the tests we needed to allow our products to better compete. We’ve made significant progress.”

The company’s big advantage is the testing laboratory in Buffalo, NGC Testing Services. Buffalo has the materials on hand as well as the trained employees to build the wall systems for NGC and can test on an as-needed schedule.

“The team has also made a difference,” said Mark Chapman, manager of technical services and project planning. “We have three groups working together, and we can prioritize and focus on problem solving.”

In addition to Chapman and Pinckney, the team members are: Keith Poerschke, director, building codes; John Mixson, director, marketing communications; Craig Robertson, vice president, Research and Development; Clark Marolf, director, quality assurance and process improvement: Jack Walker, director, quality services; Bob Menchetti, director, testing; and Larry Kingston process engineering manager.

“One of our most important UL design listings achieved recently was for inline horizontal joints with no backing,” said Poerschke. “This listing approves our wall system for horizontally installed wallboard.”
To achieve UL listings, the wall assembly tests must be witnessed by a UL representative. Because of the Buffalo lab, National Gypsum can more easily conduct in-house tests before UL is called to witness a test.

The company received a listing on 1-inch eXP shaftliner because of its successful witnessed tests of regular 1-inch shaftliner and eXP sheathing. A successful one-hour UL witnessed test on a wood floor/ceiling assembly (L501) resulted in the inclusion of this design in multiple floor/ceiling designs.

Assembly tests are required on both wood and steel framing. When steel framing designs change, new tests are needed.

The testing team has done extensive work on H-Stud Area Separation designs. These are the walls that separate multi-family units from floor to the roof. The company’s design has received approval for walls 44- to 66-feet high. The company now can also provide the market with the most comprehensive portfolio of documented fire and sound assemblies.

Improvements to the acoustical testing lab at Buffalo, which increased the flanking limit of the wall test chambers, also have allowed the company to test higher performance test assemblies such as those containing SoundBreak, the company’s acoustical gypsum board. The acoustical test lab in Buffalo was already one of the largest and best in North America. These improvements further reinforced the lab’s value to National Gypsum’s product development.

7/3/2009