Building trade, developer
Alain Blaclard, founder and CEO of ABF
Alain Blaclard is founder and CEO of ABF, which specializes in blow-in insulation. This group consists of 12 companies and 450 employees. Its consolidated sales in 2019 reached 75 million euros. With ABF, more than 300 private homes are insulated every day.
- What can you tell us about DTU 45.11?
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I am the President of the Blow-in Insulation Division of the National Insulation Union (SNI). Since 1989, it has been the only union with a commission on blow-in mineral wool and, more recently, cellulose wadding from paper. In this context, I actively contributed to drafting DTU 45.11, which will soon come into force.
This is the culmination of 37 years of work, in construction, as well as commercial, technical and regulatory areas. You start with a blank page and an original product to promote understanding and recognition of a technique or product, then you give it respectability with Technical Appraisals and ACERMI certification, and eventually it enters mainstream use.
- What's the situation with ATec?
- Technical Appraisals (ATec) date mostly from the 1970s. They addressed how to construct a building that is stable and lasting. Once works prove their stability and durability over many years, repeatedly and without abnormal loss history, they can, in the opinion of specialized groups, move into the mainstream, meaning the DTU.
- What do you see as the difference between the DTU and ATec?
- The DTU is much more complete than the ATec, even though the ATec includes the "key aspects." The DTU is more demanding with regard to professionals. It will serve to support all stakeholders, including project managers, contracting authorities, architects, consulting firms and project owners.
- What does this change do for you?
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It will push aside the many players who perform substandard work, those who have no respect for their profession or their customers. They must be vetted.
Compliance with the DTU involves few changes in implementation. A few additional aspects become mandatory, simple but time-consuming for some. For example, turbine installation machines supplied today by manufacturers can only be used for products designated by the same manufacturer, and not all types of products and brands. And, installation of wind deflectors at the bottom of roof slopes is difficult, if not impossible, from inside the roof space, so it requires work from the outside by a carpenter equipped with a platform.
- What's the role of ACERMI in this?
- ACERMI plays a fundamental role in construction, for both new construction and renovation.
