• dolmetschteam frankfurt

    Brigitte Hillebrecht
  • dolmetschteam frankfurt

    Brigitte Hillebrecht


Specialisms: windows, doors and façades/curtain walling

Technical competence

The fenestration industry is characterised by a great variety of systems and concepts. This is reflected in both the products and the terminology employed: apart from the linguistic context (e.g. USA, UK), many companies also have a specific in-house terminology. When it comes to interpreting or translating your material, through close collaboration I will provide the necessary support for walking the tightrope between company terminology and the official terms in the national standards. Our service covers all current languages and guarantees the quality of your texts, thanks to my many years of experience and that of my professional colleagues in German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, etc.


Ask the fenestration expert!

I have built up a broad expertise in this complex technical field with its high demands, thanks to many years working in building construction and architecture, in particular windows, doors, curtain walling, building hardware, glass, energy efficiency, interpreting at DIN and CEN Working Groups (e.g. CEN TC 33, TC 59, TC 164).

The intense focus (interpreting and translation) on window/door and façade technology (including shutters, blinds, awnings, hardware, glass and associated technologies) has given me an in-depth knowledge, augmented by a continually updated specialised body of terminology and national and international standards (DIN; CEN ISO; UEAtc).

Competence in the detail…
…as evidenced by e.g. false friends, when it comes to windows, doors and curtain walling.
When you work with me you can be sure that a German “Fassadenriegel” will be translated into English as “transom” and not “bolt” (because the German “Riegel” is used for both locks and façades); a “Fensterflügel” is a “casement” or “sash” (depending on opening type) and not a “leaf”, which refers to doors.
In curtain walling “Pfosten/Riegel Fassade” will be translated as “stick construction” (and not as “mullion/transom façade”) and “Elementfassade” as a “unitised construction” and not “modular or element façade” (European standard EN 13119).
And what about “Schutz”: protection or insulation?
“Wärmeschutz” is “thermal insulation” and not “thermal protection”.
The German term “Sicherheit” always covers two aspects:
safety = technical aspect, security = personal aspect – which is why, in English, we always use the two words “safety and security”.
Convinced?

Career, experience
After successfully starting my career in the language department of the CARL ZEISS Foundation, Oberkochen (interpreting/translating German/English/Spanish in the fields of optics, microscopy and medical devices), I moved to a different field of “optics”, an area which continues to fascinate me, at the national Fenestration Association in Frankfurt/Main (Verband der Fenster- und Fassadenhersteller) including the European trade associations FEMIB, FAECF and EUROWINDOOR and the German Quality Assurance Association of the trade “RAL Gütegemeinschaften”. This position provided ideal access to the complex topic of fenestration through organising, translating and interpreting professional excursions, study tours, plant visits to noted manufacturers of windows, doors and façade and curtain walling in Europe and the USA/Canada and interpreting for technical meetings for European standardisation (CEN meetings: TC 33, TC 38, TC 89, TC 112, TC 126, TC 127, TC 129 and various working groups). This was an ideal basis for my subsequent freelance business. But curtain walling/ façades also interest me in my private life, e.g. at a dinner in the restaurant of Burj al Arab, Dubai, where I pointed out the point fixings of the glass construction to my less technically experienced companion who noted my enthusiasm with incredulity.
Here are a few examples from my very varied experience:

  • Test reports in accordance with CEN, ISO, DIN, EOTA, ASTM (thermal/sound insulation, fire safety, burglar resistance, watertightness, solar control/protection, accessibility, air permeability, energy, structural calculations, LCA, etc.)
  • Construction Products Regulation
  • Expertise, expert opinions
  • BIM, Universal Design
  • Product standards, test standards
  • EPDs
  • Wood, steel, aluminium, PVC
  • Photovoltaics
  • Tenders, installation, assembly
  • Quality assurance

Other keywords: thermal transmittance, hot-box-method, EnEv, UEAtc, construction projects, architectural glass, commercial properties, stick construction, unitised construction, test report summary, system house, profile producer, cascading, factory production control.

My customers:

  • Test institutes dealing with windows, doors and façades, glass, curtain walling and building hardware
  • System houses, profile manufacturers and architects
  • Public procurement
  • Standardisation authorities (national, European, international)
  • Tradesmen and educational institutes
  • Quality assurance associations and marking/labelling institutions



Examples of outstanding façade technology:

Brigitte Hillebrecht

Conference interpreter (aiic, ata, VKD, BDÜ) - Certified and sworn translator (BDÜ)