Light Science Technologies Holdings plc expands Injectaclad operation

Injectaclad is a retrospective cavity barrier system: an intumescent material pumped along compartment lines within existing external walls to reinstate compartmentation where cavity barriers are missing or otherwise defective, and without removing the façade. It’s typically specified where an external wall assessment has identified the defect.

Light Science Technologies Holdings plc was already delivering Injectaclad on UK buildings through its passive fire protection division before the acquisition. It now owns the product as well as an installation capability, while also supplying the wider accredited network alongside it.

A dedicated distribution facility has opened at Light Science Technologies Holdings plc’s Manchester site, in turn shortening supply lines. The same location is being developed as a training base for the accredited installer network, which stands at 12 contractors across the UK, all supported on the same footing.

Additional operational and technical staff are being recruited at the Derbyshire headquarters.

Early trading since the deal’s completion points to demand. Five accredited installers committed to taking material through the group within a fortnight of the deal closing, while the first order following the acquisition was for a 19-week residential scheme in East Yorkshire.

Solid investment

Stephen Milward, technical manager at Injectaclad who joined the business before the acquisition and has stayed with it under Light Science Technologies Holdings plc’s ownership, said: “I’ve worked with this product for years. What has changed is the investment behind it. We have distribution, a training facility and more technical people on the ground. On a system where the quality of the install is everything, that’s what counts.”

Activity is concentrated in buildings both above and below 18 metres in height, with the product involved as a remediation system within schemes which have achieved Gateway 2 approval. Typical applications are multi-storey residential and student accommodation, hotels and care settings, school estates as well as modular and timber-frame housing.

As referenced, Injectaclad is a graphite-based intumescent pumped through small openings in the outer leaf along compartment lines to form a cavity barrier in situ, generally with existing insulation left in place. As the façade stays on the building, installation can take place from, among other options, MEWPs or scaffolding.

The system is tested to EN 1366-4:2021 with an extended field of application issued by UL International in May last year, achieving up to EI 120 depending on substrate pairing and cavity width.

For specifiers, the training investment may prove the most consequential part. The field of application requires installation by competent installers. A barrier formed inside a closed cavity is not open to straightforward inspection once complete, which puts weight on installer training and installation records as part of the evidence trail and golden thread of information.

*Further information is available online at www.injectaclad.com and www.lightsciencetechnologiesholdings.com