Polypipe Building Products has remained open and operational throughout the current coronavirus pandemic, supporting our customers in the delivery of product needed for essential building projects across the UK.

With that in mind, our team have worked hard to ensure all our workspaces have every measure in place to make them as safe as possible for our staff.

Our teams on site have embraced new ways of working and social distancing measures, which we will be continuously reviewing as more colleagues return and we see an increase in activity.

Thanks to everybody’s efforts we are in a good and safe place!

#TeamPolypipe #WorkingSafelyTogether

New approved guidance from Water UK for use by developers focusing on the planning, design and construction of foul and surface water drainage systems came into force on 1st April 2020.

With construction sites and housebuilders returning to work over the coming months, the new Sewers Code for Adoption provides merchants, developers and contractors with an updated and standardised set of delivery procedures.

The Sewers Code for Adoption guidance includes a Design and Construction Guidance document that replaces the existing manual outlining significant changes which will affect the adoption of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and below ground drainage systems on all development sites in England.

The main focus of the new guidelines is aimed at increasing the use of hard and soft SuDSat the outset of a development, in response to the rising rainfall in the country, and the recognition that distributing surplus water directly into sewers is unsustainable.

In addition, while the former regulations allowed water companies to vary requirements on products and systems deployed for drainage systems, the updated guidance ensures that all products and materials are evaluated by the same standards across England.

Importantly, there is an explicit instruction that the use of plastic-based pipes for below ground drainage can be considered on all sites.

Within the guidance Part E of the Design and Construction Guidance referring to civil engineering specification there is a list of acceptable pipe materials with the reference to plastic based systems reproduced here:

E2.21 Thermoplastics Solid Wall Pipes and Fittings for Gravity Sewers

1. Thermoplastics pipes, joints and fittings for gravity sewers shall comply with the relevant provisions of BS EN 1401-1 (PVC-U), BS EN 1852-1 (PP), or BS EN 12666-1 (PE) as appropriate.

2. Ancillary drainage fittings shall comply with BS EN 13598-1 or BS 4660, as appropriate.

E2.22 Thermoplastics Structured Wall Pipe

1. Thermoplastics structured wall sewer pipe shall comply with the relevant provisions of BS EN 13476-1 and WIS 4-35-01 and BS EN 13476-2 or BS EN 13476-3. Pipes shall be BSiKitemarked or have equivalent third party certification.

2. Pipes less than or equal to 500 mm in diameter shall have nominal short-term ring stiffness not less than 8 kNper m2 (SN8) or be subject to a quality system for storage and embedment.

3. Nominal short-term ring stiffness of 2 kNper m2 (SN2) is acceptable for pipes greater than 500 mm in diameter, subject to structural design load calculations in accordance with BS 9295:2019 which shall be provided to support this.

4. Maximum length of pipe for laying is 3 m or 10 x DN, whichever is the greater.

This means that there are now regions in England where house builders and developers can select a
greater range of products and systems when specifying below ground drainage on new housing
estates and developments.

All water companies are now working to these changes made in accordance with Section 104 of the
Water Industry Act 1991 so there is a need for merchants, developments and contractors to understand how the guidance will benefit them.

Housing Developers

The changes to the regulations now mean that developers can use a greater range of materials for sewerage systems. They can now opt for cost effective, light-in-weight but reliable and durable plastic systems for below ground drainage and sewer systems, as well as design and introduce SuDSsystems using the latest in drainage technology.

Contractors and groundwork specialists

Groundwork specialists have an opportunity to increase their range of skills and services they can offer developers and scheme designers.

By placing water management and the control of surface water runoff as an integral part of the design process the guidelines offers an opportunity for groundworkers to offer engineering expertise on the overall management of water on a development site from waste water generated by housing units to surface water from rainfall and natural sources.

Merchants

As merchants return to work, the knowledge that they can now supply a greater range of solutions for sewerage systems, including light-in-weight plastic-based systems provides an improved sales opportunity.

This will have particular impact in regions including the South East, where legacy materials such as concrete and clay have been traditionally used for all adoptable applications.

Speak to our technical team

Polypipe is best placed to advise home builders, from large developers to small plot builders on how the new Sewers Code for Adoption will affect their projects, with our below ground drainage technical experts available to offer guidance for any project.

Our below ground drainage product portfolio includes the UK’s largest range of sewer pipes, fittings and chambers for domestic and residential developments and project.

For more information, contact your Polypipe area sales manager.

The homeowner was looking for an effective heating system for the renovation of his 20-year-old home, ensuring he could maximise the living space, both upstairs and down.

Underfloor Heating Product Manager Giles Coombes approached the homeowner about piloting our newest Overlay^TM Plus in his renovation project. Craig Prosser at CJP Underfloor Heating was asked if he would be interested in being the first to fit the Polypipe Overlay^TM Plus system, to which he jumped at the opportunity

The new low-profile system boasts a lightweight construction, weighing in at a total of 1.2kg per board allowing Craig to effortlessly carry four boards at a time up to the 1st level of the house with ease, compared to the traditional heavier Overlay^TM which weighed 10kg per board.

The boards are designed to be used in both high and low traffic areas, meaning the system could be utilised throughout the entire house.

Due to the ease of use of the new system Craig could complete the entire house project in less than a week.

“The new boards are going to save us a significant amount of time and effort on jobs moving forward. The lightweight nature means we can carry several boards at a time which is particularly helpful on large or multi-storey projects - and as a bonus, we can tile directly on top of it.”

- Craig Prosser

To find out more about Overlay Plus, visit our dedicated Underfloor Heating website.

At Polypipe we have a comprehensive range of building products providing everything you need for domestic housing projects, from start to finish.

Whether for new build or refurbishment projects, our solutions specifically recognise the demands of modern construction environments and works across all disciplines to help you get the job done.

Together with National and Local Developers in both private and social housing, we have specialist teams working with Plumbers and Heating Engineers, General Builders, Groundworkers and National and Independent Merchants to bring together a successful project.

Whatever your project – we have a solution for every application.

Above Ground Solutions

Featuring Polypipes innovative Rainwater, Soil, Waste and Traps ranges designed to help with the removal of waste water from residential properties.

• Soil
• Waste
• Traps
• Rainwater
• Enhance

Manthorpe Building Products

An unrivaled range of plastic injection moulded, vacuum formed and extruded building products covering dry fix roofing, loft hatches and access panels through to cavity trays, closers, fire rated barriers and through wall and underfloor ventilation products.

• Roofing
• Loft & Access
• Thru...air Airbrick system
• Cavity Trays, Closers & Barriers
• Wall & Floor Ventilation
• Channel Drainage
• Environmental Products
• Air Leakage

Below Ground Solutions

A comprehensive range of durable, plastic piping solutions for drainage, sewerage and cabe protection that integrates seamlessly with our above ground drainage products.

• Underground Pipe (MLRC)
• Demarcation and Inspection Chambers
• MDPE
• Domestic Channel Drainage
• PolyStorm

Plastic Plumbing Solutions

Addressing a broad range of requirements for domestic plumbing, Polypipe has developed four different plumbing sytems that mean you'll always be able to specify the right solution for the job. 

• PolyPlumb
• PolyMax
• PolyFit
• PolySure

Surestop Stopcocks

Surestop is a unique and innovative Stopcock range, focused around protecting properties from the risk of water damage. With a simple flick of a switch, Surestop Stopcocks will completely stop the water supply without the use of batteries or electrics.

• Surestop Stopcock
• Surestop Stopcock with Remote Switch
• i-water control Stopcock

Underfloor Heating

Our underfloor heating systems have been innovatively engineered to work in virtually any installation scenario. Whether for a new build or rennovation we have a system for the job.

• In-Floor Systems
• Between-Joist Systems
• Over-Floor Systems

You can explore all of the products and solutions we have across any division of Polypipe Group Plc via our solutions page.

At Polypipe Building Products we are constantly evolving and innovating our products to keep up with changes and demands in the market.

Our latest addition to our traps range is our European to UK Outlet Adaptors. These new adaptors are designed to allow Polypipe Traps with UK sizing to be used in conjunction with European waste outlets.

These adaptors can purchased on their own or alternatively they are included in a selection of our undersink traps at no extra cost.

Why do we need the UK to EU Waste Adaptors?

The UK to EU Adaptors mean that our range of UK traps can be used where a European waste has been installed and that customers can install our traps on products (sinks, baths etc.) that use a European sized outlet.

What size are the Adaptors available in?

These will be available in 32mm UK to 1 ¼” EU (WTC5) and 40mm UK to 1 ½” EU (WTC6) sizes.

Below are the product codes for the traps that will contain the WTC5 and WTC6 waste adaptors free of charge:

Installation Detail

Polypipe Building Products have been featuring in the Gas App UK Live Lounge recently, answering questions sent in by Tradespeople and Gas App users about all things Polypipe Above Ground Drainage and Plastic Plumbing.

If you missed them, you can still catch up with the sessions via the videos below.

To watch the Above Ground Live Lounge with Product Manager Paul Jackson:

To watch the Plastic Plumbing Live Lounge with Product Manager Adam Pearson:

Polypipe Building Products are pleased to be able to sponsor and work alongside Gas App, which is a brilliant one-stop shop for Tradespeople. The app features bespoke quoting software, a PDF reference library, competitions, thousands of manuals and much more - plus it is free to download!

You can find out more information via their website https://www.gasapp.co.uk/.
 

We have been helping communities where we can during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

As well as fulfilling essential orders, Polypipe has donated half a tonne of polypropylene to students at Bradfield Technology College who have used the material to manufacture more than 12,000 visors for health care workers so far.

Another 500 kilograms of polypropylene has been donated to the Silverstone Technology Cluster (STC), in Northamptonshire, to manufacture crucial supplies of equipment for frontline healthcare workers across Northamptonshire. The Silverstone site has crafted supplies which have then been donated to care homes, hospitals and community services in Northamptonshire and medical staff from the armed forces.

Working with our supply chain partners, we have also organised protective equipment donations and collections from other local businesses which included thousands of plastic aprons for the Doncaster South primary care network which covers 43 practices across Doncaster.

As part of contributing to our local community, Polypipe Building Products has also provided a van and driver for a community group delivering hot meals to vulnerable people.

The most recent efforts from Polypipe came in conjunction with the Northern Powerhouse Partnership. Polypipe donated much needed funds to provide disadvantaged students in the region with computer equipment to enable them to continue their studies from home.

Cameron McLellan, divisional managing director for Polypipe Residential Systems, said:

“Everyone at Polypipe Building Products is very happy to be able to help communities across the country during this crisis. We have done everything we can to help key workers stay safe and also to help future generations by providing laptops for underprivileged children.

“It’s important for businesses to help during times of need and the current situation has really shown what we can do when we work together.”

Suitable for renewable heating and cooling applications such as ground and air source heat pumps, Polypipe's pre-insulated pipes are hyper-flexible, durable and reliable.

The robust, easy to handle polyethylene pipe is available in two pressure variants and a choice of diameters to suit your project. It is also suitable for both potable and non potable applications.

Hyper-Flexibility means:

• Fast installation around bends, obstacles and through walls
• No expansion compensation needed
• No welding required for connections
• No special tools needed
• Light weight facilities easy installation
• Simple and safe to operate modular system of connections, including couplings and accessories
• Fast installation and accelerated assembly cut installation costs significantly

Durability means:

• High-grade raw materials ensure a very long product life
• Unique double wall outside casing in HDPE provides extra protection to the carrier pipes
• Sophisticated geometry of outside casing ensures unparalleled flexibility and high resistance to impacts and pressure
• Hyper-flexible thermal foam insulation in PE-X with closed cell structure - excellent long-term insulation qualities and high μ factor
• Insulating pipe divider guarantees an effective separation of inlet and outlet pipes
• Corrosion-free carrier pipes in PE-Xa, unique chemical resistance, very long life even under high pressures and temperatures, maximum resistance to cracks caused by ageing
• System pipes are highly resistant to external influences, such as stress, micro-biological degradation and termperature swings

To find out more you can view the full product guide, featuring installation instructions, heat loss tables and pressure testing, here.

Back in 2018 it was announced that Doncaster was to have its own University Technical College (UTC) to educate the next generation of skilled technicians, engineers, and designers.

Work has been well underway since then with the college due to open in September 2020 to students aged between 13 and 19 years old.

The aim of the college is to help to provide a workforce for the future and ensure Doncaster’s economic sustainability in the advanced engineering, rail and digital design sectors.

Led by Doncaster Chamber, students will have access to a unique learning experience enhanced by close links with local supporting employers to bring the curriculum to life through project work.

Polypipe Building Products are proud to be one of those local supporting employers partnering with Doncaster UTC.  Polypipe Group HR Director Melissa Flett sits on the board of Governors for the new college, so recently took a socially distanced visit to site to see the progress with the build.

The 5 storey development is looking fantastic, with great views of Doncaster from the upper floors. We were pleased to see some Polypipe product involved in the project too!

Doncaster UTC is part of an exciting time for the development of Doncaster town centre and as a large local employer, something we are particularly pleased to be able to support now, and for years to come.

Melissa also visited the site earlier this year, pre-lockdown, to 'sign the steel' with other partners and Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones.

We look forward to the opportunity to work with students on projects involving engineering, technical processes and design given the industry that we come from and hope that one day in the future we will be able to welcome some of the students into the Polypipe family to pursue their chosen career!

Polypipe is delighted to have won an award at the 2020 Builders’ Merchants Journal Awards (BMJ).

The winners from across the national construction industry were announced at a ‘virtual’ awards ceremony hosted by BMJ editor in chief Fiona Russel-Horne and renowned broadcaster and announcer of the National Lottery and Strictly Come Dancing, Alan Dedicoat.

Polypipe Building Products won the award for Best Heating and Plumbing Manufacturer as voted for by merchant teams and their customers and industry peers.

The awards celebrate the personal connections and customer service that is the foundation of the construction industry, with Polypipe shortlisted among some of the biggest brands and manufacturers in the sector.

Tariq Ahmad (Pictured above), Sales and Marketing Director at Polypipe Building Products, said:

“I am very pleased to see the great customer service offered by our teams recognised with such a prestigious industry award.

 

“The customer is at the heart of everything that Polypipe does so we are especially pleased to receive this award as it is our customers themselves who have voted.”

Fiona Russell-Horne said:

“We are proud to have been able to honour the very best manufacturers, merchants and professionals operating in this incredible industry and would like to thank everyone that joined us for the 2020 Awards.”

Following the successful launch of our brand new innovative PolySoil^® range in 2019, Polypipe Building Products are pleased to be able to add two new bends to the range thanks to feedback and demand from our customers.

PolySoil^® is the UK’s most advanced ring seal soil system for the residential market, and with the addition of these new bends, now the most comprehensive solution available to Installers.

Our new bend offering now includes 5 single socket bends ranging from 15° up to 87.5°, all of which still incorporate our unique single-piece moulding technology - improving the performance and longevity of a soil system. Our Ring Lock Seal technology stops the seal from distorting or becoming dislodged from the fitting when being installed.

Kitemarked to BSI EN 1329-1 (110 & 160mm) and available in 3 colour options, you can find the new product codes and descriptions as below.

You can discover more of the features and benefits of our PolySoil^® range via the launch video and installation video below.

Minimising noise from building services such as heating, ventilation and wastewater drainage is key to helping produce a pleasant environment for a building’s occupants as well as for neighbouring properties, says an article from PBC Today.

Polypipe’s Acoustic Expansion Couplers have been designed to address the issue of unwanted noise in soil stacks, which is caused by thermal movement and unplanned contact between the stack and structure of the building.

The coupler limits the transfer of noise by allowing thermal movement to happen with the rubber gasket in the fitting (up to 15mm). Normal working practice for standard soil couplers is to withdraw the fitting when installed with the pipe by 10mm. With our Acoustic Expansion Coupler, this action is no longer required. This provides certainty that expansion has been allowed for during installation.

Franz Huelle of the BPF Pipes Group has been quoted as saying:

“There are currently no UK, European or sector standards in existence that specify the acoustic performance of soil and waste pipes, and yet designers are constantly seeking to reduce noise in modern buildings.”

 

“Combining the traditional benefits of weight and quick jointing with state-of-the-art design and manufacturing in a complete soil and waste systems solution with added acoustic performance is ideal to help those designing building services to meet and exceed modern expectations.”

Key Features of Polypipe’s Acoustic Expansion Couplers

• Limits noise transfer between separating walls and floors when installed on all floors
• Allows the pipe to move within the body of the fitting by up to 15mm
• Reduces stress on pipework systems from thermal movement
• Promotes best practice by managing the expansion
• Can be installed in horizontal and vertical installations

New Product Codes

You can find out more about Polypipe’s Above Ground Drainage offering via our Technical Installation Guide here.

Franz Huelle’s quote has been taken from a PBC article which can be found here https://www.pbctoday.co.uk/news/building-control-news/acoustic-soil-waste-pipes-low-noise-building/53843/.

Barratt Homes benefitted from the breadth of below ground and above ground drainage solutions from Polypipe Building Products recently, at a major development in South Yorkshire.

The Park Edge project, near Doncaster, consists of 189 two-to-four bedroom detached, semi-detached and townhouse design homes. Barratt Homes worked with plumbing contractor Lakeside Plumbers and Polypipe to deliver a wide range of high specification plastic plumbing systems to manage water from ‘the roof to the sewer’ across the estate.

Within each house a range of products from Polypipe’s PolyPlumb, PolySoil and Pro-Straight ranges were used to ensure that every home on the estate had modern, efficient and made-to-last plumbing throughout the building.

By using the range of PolySoil waste pipe, fittings and traps, each home benefitted from components enhanced with BioCote technology, an additive included within the plastic that helps to reduce bacterial and viral loads in homes and increases the longevity of the system.

To provide the external drainage, waste water and sewerage system for each home on the new estate, Barratt Homes specified the use of Polypipe’s extensive below ground drainage product portfolio. Polypipe has the UK’s largest range of sewer pipes, fittings and chambers for commercial and residential projects. The pipes are available in diameters from 110mm up to 3,000mm and make installation faster due to the flexibility, strength and easy handling properties.

At Park Edge, a wide range of Polysewer pipes were installed, with the access to the system across the entire estate using Polypipe’s SFA7 approved Inspection Chambers, manhole covers and frames.

Richard Eddy, Below ground drainage product manager, Polypipe, comments:

“A project of this size and scope demonstrates the strength and technical excellence of the Polypipe product portfolio. By working closely with the developer and its assigned contractors, we were able to supply at volume a high specification system suitable for use at each stage of required water management. From rainwater systems to manage rainfall on the roof, to internal plumbing that keeps a house with many appliances working efficiently, to the systems that safely removes waste water from a housing plot into the main sewer system.

 

“Polypipe supports all aspects of building projects for the supply of water management solutions sewers ranging from early technical advice through to on-site installation assistance with contractors.”    

All external property shots were taken by Baratts Homes and come via there website which you can find here https://www.barratthomes.co.uk/new-homes/south-yorkshire/h777901-park-edge,-doncaster/.

Work has started on Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospital's new memorial ‘rainbow gardens’ thanks to Polypipe Building Products and other local businesses.

Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Rainbow Garden appeal was set up to establish memorial gardens in both Doncaster and Bassetlaw to remember those who lost their lives to Covid-19.

As a business who originated right here in Doncaster, Polypipe Building Products were proud to be able to kick-start the fund with a £5000 donation. The gardens will give staff and families a place to reflect and remember the challenges faced during the pandemic.

Kevin Gunn, Key Account Director from Polypipe Building Products (Pictured far right), said:

“We are very pleased that work has started on the gardens and proud to support the Trust to show our gratitude for the fantastic work they have done.”

Pictured at the ground-breaking ceremony for the new gardens are staff from Polypipe, local businesses and the hospital trust.