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“There is a Growing Market for Organised Architectural Hardware Solutions”

By: V.S. Rajan, GEZE India Pvt Ltd

Please tell us about the growth of the architectural hardware industry in India.

There has been consistent growth in the Architectural hardware industry in India. We now have a wide variety of hardware solutions from indigenous and overseas companies. There is an increased awareness of performance parameters and the trend is now for performance and system-based applications. There is also a growing awareness of automation systems.

Do you think that the organised architectural hardware market is growing on the back of customer demand?

Yes, with system solutions gaining wider acceptance and also on account of performance aspects of these systems. There is a growing market for organised architectural hardware solutions.

Tell us about the challenges and roadblocks in the Architectural Hardware industry.

The regulatory aspects are still being updated, there needs to be a consistent industry-wide focus on the upgradation of standards. The lack of organised and trained manpower and workmanship issues needed to be focussed upon.

Lack of standardization of window and door systems considering the design approach is one of the major challenges faced by the hardware industry. Do you agree with it?

Yes, but till the time the few basic benchmarks are defined and adhered to, this will remain a challenge. This has to have an industry-wide approach; all the stakeholders have to come together to address this issue. Stakeholders need to come together and set some basic system, design and performance parameters as a first step towards finding solutions.

What are the tests and test methods for deciding the quality of hardware used in windows and doors, and façades?

Though some parameters may be common such as MTC, cycle testing, and corrosion resistance and based on which they have been graded. Then again it depends on the application. Doors and windows will have different performance requirement based on accessibility, functionality and safety and accordingly their test methods. In some hardware, fire behaviour parameters will also have to be factored in.