The Background

BMI Group is the largest manufacturer of flat and pitched roofing and waterproofing solutions throughout Europe with a significant presence in parts of Asia and Africa. Manufacturing high performance, lightweight, flexible roofing systems, environmentally friendly geomembranes, agricultural products and innovative pipeline renovation systems which are easier, safer and quicker to install. BMI has been delivering innovative roofing and waterproofing systems since 1852 and today employ over 9,000 employees in manufacturing, operations and R&D facilities worldwide.

No stranger to building regulations and standards, the BMI Group understands the importance of certification to ensure quality and sustainable development methods both above ground, and below. Following its success in the market for over 40 years, the Teranap system, a SBS-modified bituminous membrane system for tanking and damp-proofing underground structures, had been earmarked as the most suitable product for use in the development of a waste sorting and recovery plant in Paris called Isséane, an underground project in close proximity to the Seine River.

The Challenge

Given the Isséane project’s close proximity to the Seine River, it was necessary to ensure that the choice of underground weatherproofing product used in the project was robust enough to stand up to water infiltration risks and perform at peak capacity to reduce flooding, damage and the need for future, very costly, repairs. Due to the complexity of the project, specifiers confidence was low that a single product would be able to deliver the results they required.

In addition to this, the Isséane project was required to be undertaken with minimal disruption to the environment and community around it. BMI, therefore, needed the neutrality of an established and recognised certification body such as the BBA to establish confidence that the product would be able to perform the specified requirements.

The Approach

The BMI Group has a long-standing working relationship with the BBA and had the advantage of understanding the process and procedures involved in the specified testing. In addition to this, BMI also had the insight to know the type of information and documentation that the BBA requires in order to conduct the necessary testing and certification for the product.

The BBA worked in partnership with the BMI Group to conduct the certification process, which included reviewing any factors that related to compliance with Building Regulations and additional non-regulatory information where applicable, independently verifying technical specifications, designs and installation guidelines supplied by the BMI Group, as well as visiting production facilities to review the production process.

The Results

The Teranap TP Tanking System was awarded BBA Agrément Certificate 12/4934 in September 2012. This Certificate was awarded after successfully testing the product’s resistance to water and water vapour, the resistance to mechanical damage and how the system accepted without damage, the limited foot traffic and loads associated with installation.

It also assessed the effects of thermal or other minor movement likely to occur in practice, as well as the product’s durability under normal service conditions, confirming that the system would provide an effective barrier to the transmission of moisture for the life of the structure in which it is incorporated.

Xavier de Mauny of the BMI Group said, “Thanks to BBA and French technical agreements, designers agreed that Teranap was the only system able to guarantee results during construction and years of exploitation in the Isséane project, and the product was successfully used in the development of the energy valuation plant.”