Cladding is a non-load bearing wall covering attached to the external or internal face of a wall. There is a vast variety of types and materials available from metal to brick, stone and wood to plastic and composite.

External cladding has to withstand wind loads, impact damage and temperature extremes. Some cladding comes as prefabricated factory-made panels and may incorporate insulation.

Rainscreen cladding is growing in popularity because it is simple and speedy to install. It can dramatically improve and transform the appearance of an existing building. The panels can be easily removed for monitoring of the structure and there is a reduced risk of condensation due to the elimination of cold bridges. It is also energy saving due to greatly improved insulation. A rainscreen system consists of an outer panel, a ventilated cavity and an inner leaf. In driving rain, moisture forms a membrane across the baffled vertical and horizontal joints. The majority of water is deflected off the outside face and any penetrating water is disposed of through drainage. Pressure inside the cavity is equal to that on the outside of the cavity therefore the moisture has less inclination to be driven into the cavity.

The Building Centre has many cladding manufactures’ technical product brochures available in hardcopy or electronic format on specifinder.com.

The Building Centre publishes an Information Sheet No.14 entitled Terracotta Rainscreen Cladding which lists many of the manufacturers and suppliers.