Thomas Bell-Wright International

Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants (TBW) is an independent, multi-accredited Testing, Inspection, and Certification (TIC) firm founded in Dubai in 1995. With a professional team exceeding 100 specialists and documented experience on more than 1,000 major architectural projects across the Middle East and beyond, TBW serves the global building and construction industry by providing third-party quality assurance for building envelopes, façades, curtain walls, and passive fire protection systems. Its clients span architects, developers, contractors, façade manufacturers, fire protection product suppliers, and project management firms that require reliable, independently accredited test data to satisfy regulatory requirements and project specifications across the GCC, Europe, and international markets.

TBW's flagship service is façade and curtain wall testing, conducted both in its purpose-built laboratory and on-site at project locations. The company operates a full-scale curtain wall testing facility capable of simultaneously accommodating more than twelve mock-up rigs, with maximum specimen dimensions of 15 metres in width and 22 metres in height. The three foundational tests—air infiltration, water penetration resistance, and structural load (both positive and negative pressure)—are executed in accordance with ASTM, AAMA (American Architectural Manufacturers Association), CWCT (Centre for Window and Cladding Technology), and BS EN standards. Test subjects encompass the full range of building envelope elements: unitised curtain walls, stick-system façades, windows, doors, skylights, glass walls, metal and glass roofing, metal cladding, and granite cladding systems. Thermal cycling and building movement simulations are also available, and TBW has performed what the company describes as the world's largest thermal cycling test, executed for the Red Sea Sheybara Resort project.

Beyond laboratory mock-up work, TBW delivers a comprehensive suite of on-site façade testing services. These include hose testing, site chamber water penetration testing, whole-building air infiltration assessment, balustrade load testing, and pull-out testing for anchors and structural fixings. The company also provides thermographic (infrared) analysis to detect thermal bridging, moisture ingress, and envelope defects in existing buildings. Acoustic performance testing of full-size curtain wall mock-ups is conducted in collaboration with associate acoustic engineers, yielding in-situ, representative results that small laboratory specimens cannot replicate. These on-site capabilities allow TBW to serve both new-build quality assurance programmes and post-occupancy investigation of existing building envelopes.

Fire compliance is TBW's second major discipline and encompasses testing, certification, and independent inspection. Fire resistance testing covers doors, walls, partitions, service penetrations, ceilings, and floors. Reaction to fire testing—assessing ignitability, combustibility, and heat release of insulation materials, interior linings, flooring, and façade finishes—is performed using a cone calorimeter and the ASTM E84 Steiner Tunnel apparatus. Full-scale fire propagation testing of complete external wall assemblies, with particular relevance to aluminium composite panel (ACP) cladding systems, is conducted using the company's Intermediate Scale, Multi-Story Test Apparatus (ISMA) to NFPA 285 and BS 8414. Additional fire-test standards in scope include EN 13501-1 Euro-classes, ASTM E2307, ASTM E2874, ISO fire methods, UAE Civil Defense requirements, UK, Indian, and US national codes, and marine test protocols. TBW is widely recognised as one of the only facilities in the Middle East capable of testing fire-rated doors, walls, and partitions as well as undertaking full-façade fire propagation assessments to international standards.

The laboratory also offers a range of specialist materials characterisation services for glazing and structural elements. Impact testing of safety-critical glazed assemblies is conducted per ASTM E2353, ASTM E935, BS EN 14428, ANSI Z97.1, and CPSC 16 CFR 1201.4, addressing requirements under the UAE Fire and Life Safety Code for safety glass. Glass surface stress measurement using the Grazing Angle Surface Polarimeter (GASP) method classifies glass as heat-strengthened (HS) or fully tempered (FT); light and energy transmittance and reflection measurements are also available. For novel or project-specific requirements TBW designs ad hoc test programmes, past examples including windblown sand impact on coated glass, load effects on heated laminated glass, and thermal cycling effects on coloured laminated glass—demonstrating the laboratory's capability to create bespoke protocols beyond the limits of published standards.

On the certification and inspection side, TBW holds accreditation as both a product certification body (ISO/IEC 17065) and an inspection body (ISO/IEC 17020), enabling it to issue independent third-party certification for passive fire protection products and to perform fire stop inspections per ASTM E2174 and ASTM E2393. The company's consulting division offers façade peer review, pre- and post-tender consulting, condition assessments, and failure investigation for existing building envelopes—combining forensic analysis with laboratory test data to support remediation decisions, insurance claims, and, where necessary, dispute resolution or litigation.

TBW holds ISO/IEC 17025 testing laboratory accreditation from multiple internationally recognised bodies: UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service; reference 4439 for the UAE entity and 27292 for the UK entity), EIAC (Emirates International Accreditation Centre; LB-TEST-188), IAS (International Accreditation Service, USA; TL-626), ENAS (National Accreditation Office of Egypt; NAL 159), and SAAC (Saudi Accreditation Center; N-T-00606). Inspection body recognition is held from EIAC (IB-199) and SAAC (N-I-00035); certification body accreditation from UKAS (6762), EIAC (CB-PRD-004), and IAS (PCA-160). This breadth of recognition across UK, US, UAE, Saudi Arabian, Gulf, and Egyptian authorities ensures that TBW test reports are accepted by regulatory bodies and project specifications internationally. Now part of the Phenna Group, TBW operates testing and inspection offices in Dubai (headquarters and Jebel Ali laboratory), Saudi Arabia (Riyadh office and Sudair Industrial City laboratory), Doha (Qatar), and Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire (United Kingdom).