Sealant growth expected

Growth is expected in the window and door foam sealing tape market in 2020 despite uncertainty around Brexit and the economic plans of the new government, according to one supplier.

Andy Swift, sales and operations managerfor ISO-Chemie, expects the impact of any UK exit from Europe or otherwise to have little impact on the products his company currently supplies to domestic house builders and commercial property developers.

“Regardless of any Brexit outcome or new government, domestic construction will continue, particularly in the new build sector where there is demand to tackle the chronic national housing shortage,” he said.“The only risk could be to those businesses that we supply being able to survive themselves.”

Andy Swift also said that building houses to higher air and thermal standards must be top of the agenda in the coming year.

“This has to be the rule rather than an option,” he said.“It’s an important message that we will continue to push at industry events throughout 2020 as well as directly to architects and other specifiers.

“There are effective products and solutions to ensure that airtightness and thermal efficiency within buildings is maximised, as well as several fire rated products. Being that new and existing buildings are always heading towards better energy ratings and fire safety, it’s a matter of designing in these products.”

He also said that any ongoing construction sector skills shortages in the next 12 months can be addressed by sealant tape products because they do not require any special skills to install.