Photo courtesy of Light House Architecture & Science.

NSW-based Plustec has become the first uPVC profile supplier to achieve accreditation under the country’s Industry Code of Practice (ICP) for vinyl profiles used in windows and doors in Australia.

Developed by the Vinyl Council of Australia, the uPVC Window Alliance’s initiative is designed to provide greater confidence to specifiers, builders and consumers in the durability of uPVC profiles under the Australian climate and to reduce concern that uPVC profiles may discolour under high UV conditions.

Assessments by the ICP are made by an accredited third party after laboratory testing and require physical exposure to one of the highest UV radiation standards in the world. This means that purchasers of the uPVC window have been tested at the highest possible level of UV.

“Through our uPVC Window Alliance initiative, all local uPVC profile suppliers supplying products in Australia who achieve this trade mark have demonstrated that their products can reliably meet the highest standards required, both to meet our more extreme climatic conditions and those expected by prospective purchasers,” Vinyl Council of Australia chief executive Sophi MacMillan says.

“Consumers in Australia buying uPVC windows expect, quite rightly, that these can cope with a harsher climate. That’s why we have introduced the new testing requirements and trade mark with stringent compliance requirements to provide customers with greater confidence in the durability of uPVC products in Australian climatic conditions.

“We not only encourage people to choose uPVC windows for quality high performance windows, we encourage them to ask for this mark.”

The use of uPVC windows is well-established in Europe, the UK and the US and it offers the double benefit of UV protection while keeping the cold winter and hot summer weather out.

Other suppliers seeking this accreditation must have their profiles independently tested near Townsville, Queensland, Australia’s only natural outdoor weather resistance testing laboratory. The ICP also covers polymer quality and restrictions on legacy additives, while allowing recycled PVC to permitted levels.