WORLDWIDE testing and advisory business Bodycote Testing Group has been relaunched as Exova, following the sale of the business by Bodycote to global private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier and Rice (CD&R), last year.

“The creation of a new name, identity and website reflects the company’s new direction, vision and values,” says Rob Jackson, managing director for Exova – Middle East and Asia/Asia Pacific.
The Bodycote Testing Group has more than 130 facilities in 25 countries and provides testing and advisory services to the civil engineering, transportation, aerospace, energy, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, food environmental and consumer products industries.
Jackson says: “We are exceptionally excited about the rebranding across the region where we have established ourselves as the service provider of choice for quality and value-conscious clients. We are pleased to announce that our operations in the UAE (Abu Dhabi and Dubai), Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia (Dammam) will shortly be adopting the Exova brand.”
The rebranding is expected to give further impetus to the already vibrant Middle East operations.
Since its arrival in the Middle East in the mid-1990s, Exova has developed into the region’s premier testing and related services company. Its facilities in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Muscat in Oman, Doha, Bahrain and Dammam are staffed by more than 1,000 employees.
Exova offers a diverse range of testing services across many market sectors, though its primary focus has always been on the construction industry as the group’s development director Jason Dodds explains: “We have a long and proven track record in the delivery of construction materials testing, both globally and locally, where we provide traditional physical testing of concretes, soils and aggregates, and more specialist work including load testing and thermo-couple investigations.”
Each permanent laboratory is fully equipped to provide not only high-volume routine physical testing on materials such as concrete and soils but also bespoke areas for more specialised or emerging tests, such as creep testing (for the assessment of concrete for high-rise buildings), or examining the behaviour of sealants under various conditions.
Dodds continues: “We have also diversified into niche specialist services in response to market demand. Exova Warringtonfire ME is partnering with Dubai Civil Defence to deliver a world-class fire-testing facility in the UAE. This facility will provide fire testing and product certification services.”
“Furthermore, our Exova Warringtonfire Consulting business is a market leader in the provision of fire-related consultancy services, providing advice to clients on strategic design, code compliance, fire-safety management planning, in addition to the provision of computer modelling simulation studies,” Dodds says.
“More evidence of our innovative culture can be found at our facilities that provide cladding technology testing and advice, where we test building envelopes or curtain-wall systems for a variety of purposes including air permeability, water penetration, wind resistance and, of course, thermal transmission, which is obviously very important in this part of the world.”
Significantly, the Dubai-based Cladding Technology Centre is the only cladding testing facility in the region to be internationally accredited by the UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) with the ISO 17025 standard.
“Customer service, commitment to quality and guarantee of integrity form the cornerstone of all our service offerings,” Dodds says.
He stresses the importance of applying the best standards in material testing and therefore, choosing an accredited service provider to carry out the work.
“In terms of quality, we have a policy for pursuing UKAS ISO 17025 accreditation for all of our laboratories. This inevitably raises our cost base but it also clearly demonstrates our absolute commitment to the highest standards,” Dodds says.
“With specific regard to the construction industry, we have spent a lot of time trying to educate the market. All too often it seems that material testing has been considered a necessary evil to building contractors and they are often permitted to select whoever they choose to do the job.
“Inevitably, this has led to the most inexpensive service provider being used, which can raise quality and integrity issues. We have been lobbying for a change, with the hope that developers and project owners will specify and appoint accredited testing laboratories to ensure their investment is protected.”
“The additional cost relative to the overall project will be invariably insignificant, when you consider the reassurance that independent service providers are capable of providing,” Dodds concludes.