December 11, 2007 -- Intertek Group plc, a specialist in testing, inspection and certification, announced it has relocated its wire and cable fire testing operations from its Cortland, NY laboratory to its Fire and Flammability Center of Excellence in San Antonio, TX. The company says the move centralizes all of its wire and cable testing operations in the 50K square-foot San Antonia laboratory "with the world's leading fire testing engineers."
Fire and flammability testing for all cabling products will be managed by Deg Priest, Intertek's director of operations in San Antonio. With over 30 years of experience with fire and flammability testing, Priest has designed and constructed over 18 fire resistant furnaces, is an active member on several fire test method committees, and has been chairman of the ISO Technical Committee 92/Subcommittee 2 (Fire Containment) since 1993.
Priest has operated and maintained Steiner Tunnels since 1997, and designed and built the Steiner Tunnel, which is used to test the flammability of wire and cable products. Intertek says that Priest's extensive experience in fire testing will provide its customers "with a level of expertise in fire testing that is unmatched in the industry."
"Between Deg and his team, our customers now have single-point access to the industry's most extensive pedigree in fire testing," comments Gregg Tiemann, president of Intertek's Commercial and Electrical Products group. "Whether testing to industry requirements, association standards, or running custom tests for research and development, our San Antonio lab benefits customers with industry-leading data accuracy and quicker project queue times."
Since 1985, Intertek's San Antonio lab (formerly Omega Point Laboratories) has conducted fire and flammability testing on products including wire and cable, life safety and security products, mattresses, and wall systems and materials. The 50K square-foot laboratory, situated on 73 acres, is equipped to handle virtually any size fire resistance, flammability or flame spread testing project, notes the company.
