Expert Area

Long-serving technical director Nigel Morrey has announced his retirement after nearly a decade at Etex Building Performance and nearly 37 years in the passive fire protection sector, where he oversaw product performance and development for both passive fire protection specialist Promat and dry walling manufacturer Siniat.

Walls are important. You’d struggle to find a person who could make a reasonable argument to a contrary. They carry their weight in both the metaphorical and literal sense of the word.

Structural fire protection is something of a mystery at many drawing boards. One of those things discussed in hushed tones, at the eleventh hour.

If you ask ten specifiers how they’re protecting their steelwork this month, you’ll get twelve answers.

There is a certain type of person who will tell you that they can judge a steak’s done-ness by pressing it with a finger. They’ll jab at it like it owes them money, declare it not ready yet and go back to watching the football.

Carefully chronicled by the Court Historians of Siniat, with due reverence.

If something is left, buried under weight and pressure, for long enough, it becomes the subject of a unique, geological phenomenon. This is how fossils are made. Organic structures are petrified – locked into shape by time and the absence of air.

ready, steady.. wait

Government penalties for housing delays could ripple through construction. Discover how policy shifts may affect infrastructure, materials, and the wider built environment—and what this could mean for a slow recovery in 2025.

If you’ve inherited design responsibility, this guide helps you navigate what comes next. Learn how to prove competence, get the right advice, and specify tested systems to meet Building Safety Act expectations.

Where Does Responsibility Live in Construction? A Journey Through Competence, Liability, and the Building Safety Act

You may’ve seen our crowns. Our op-eds. We certainly hope you’ve heard us shouting from the rooftops about our plant expansion.