When Evan Olver learned that one of the adhesive products he relied on was about to disappear from the Australian market, he didn’t start searching for a substitute.
He asked his supplier how much was left.
At the time, Olver was working in the sign industry, where he had spent years making and installing signs. One of the products he regularly used was X-Tack, an instant-grab adhesive from the Tec7 range. In 2014, however, he was told the product was being discontinued locally.
Olver bought the final 11 cartons available in Australia. That evening, he and his wife, Simone, tracked down the manufacturer, Novatech International, and emailed its headquarters in Belgium to ask whether they could become the Australian distributor.
They got an answer the following day, and that exchange became the starting point for Olmurtech, a family-owned business now based in Brendale, Queensland, and the official distributor of Tec7 and Novatio products across Australia and New Zealand.
From Three Products to a National Distribution Network
Olmurtech began operating in November 2014, initially distributing three Tec7 products alongside business partners based in Melbourne.
Two years later, the company expanded its offering to include Novatio, a second Novatech International brand covering specialist cleaning, maintenance, repair and bonding products.
In February 2020, Evan and Simone bought their partners’ 50 per cent share in the company, becoming Olmurtech’s sole owners and directors. The business has since grown to carry more than 14 products and supply a network of over 70 distributors around Australia.
Despite that growth, Olmurtech’s role remains specific. It doesn’t manufacture the products it sells. Instead, the company imports the Belgian-made ranges, distributes them through professional trade stores and supports resellers, specifiers and tradespeople with product selection, installation methods and technical advice.
That distinction is important because adhesives aren’t interchangeable. Substrate type, moisture, movement, surface preparation and load requirements can all affect how a product performs. Olmurtech draws heavily on Evan’s practical installation background when helping customers determine whether a product suits a particular application.
Why Adhesives Are Replacing Some Traditional Fixings
The central products in Olmurtech’s range are based on MS polymer technology.
MS polymer adhesives combine high bonding strength with lasting elasticity. Unlike a rigid fixing, the cured product can continue to accommodate some movement, vibration and changes between dissimilar materials. The Tec7 range is also formulated without solvents and isocyanates, while several products can be applied to damp surfaces or used for sealing in wet conditions.
For tradespeople, their practical appeal lies partly in the ability to bond, mount and seal materials without always drilling holes or installing visible screws and nails.
Adhesive bonding can distribute loads more evenly across a surface, rather than concentrating pressure around individual fixing points. It can also reduce the risk of corrosion around penetrations, create a cleaner finished appearance and shorten installation times on projects where extensive bracing or mechanical fastening would otherwise be required.
The products are used across construction, signage, fabrication, maintenance and fit-out work, with applications including timber panels, mirrors, acoustic panels, aluminium composite materials, skirting, tiles, fixtures and lettering.
Olmurtech’s best-known product is X-Tack. Designed for vertical and unsupported applications, it develops an initial grab rated at approximately 600 kilograms per square metre before curing. Once fully cured, its stated bonding capacity is 28 kilograms per square centimetre, equivalent to around 280 tonnes per square metre under the specified test conditions.
Those figures don’t remove the need for correct product selection, surface preparation or project-specific engineering. They do, however, illustrate why high-strength adhesives are increasingly being considered alongside conventional fixing systems.
Sustainability Is Becoming a Product-Specification Issue
The way building materials affect health and indoor environments has become a more prominent consideration for architects, designers and builders.
Projects pursuing Green Star, LEED or WELL Building Standard outcomes need documented information about the materials being used, including products that may remain hidden behind panels, flooring or finishes once construction is complete.
Tec7, X-Tack and Trans Clear have received Global GreenTag PlatinumHEALTH HealthRATE certification through the organisation’s Product Health Declaration program. Tec7 has also been assessed for compatibility with the FEICA model Environmental Product Declaration for polyurethane and silane-modified products, providing lifecycle data that can be considered in building assessments.
For Olmurtech, these credentials aren’t solely about helping a finished building achieve a rating. They’re also relevant to the people applying adhesives and sealants repeatedly over the course of their working lives.
The construction industry has already seen the consequences of underestimating occupational exposure, from asbestos-related disease to silicosis. While the risks associated with different substances aren’t directly equivalent, the broader lesson is clear: the health profile of products used daily on building sites deserves scrutiny before harm becomes apparent decades later.
Putting the System to Work at Jordan Springs
One of the clearest examples of Olmurtech’s role beyond product distribution came during the construction of Jordan Springs Public School in New South Wales.
Completed in 2020, the first stage of the $55 million school project included more than 2,000 square metres of Ariaply panels. Olmurtech supplied X-Tack and provided installation training for the project team.
The company developed an adhesive installation system for 12-millimetre prefinished hoop pine plywood panels used on external ceiling areas, including spaces regularly occupied by children.
Using X-Tack allowed the panels to be bonded to the framing without visible mechanical fixings, producing a continuous timber finish while avoiding screws through the face of the material. The adhesive’s immediate grab also helped streamline installation by reducing the support normally needed while a product cures.
Following the first stage, Olmurtech was engaged again for a second section of the project using the same system.
The outcome demonstrates an important part of the company’s model. Rather than selling a cartridge and leaving the installer to determine the rest, Olmurtech can work with project teams to develop an application method, advise on preparation and provide training before installation begins.
Its products have since appeared on other education and commercial projects, including the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Petrie campus and the Runcorn State High School science block.
Supporting the Businesses That Supply the Trades
Olmurtech primarily sells through trade resellers rather than directly targeting individual consumers.
Its customers include hardware stores, construction suppliers and specialist distributors whose owners, buyers and product managers decide which products to stock. The company supports those businesses through demonstrations, technical information and assistance with customer applications.
Architects, designers and specifiers form another important audience, particularly when adhesives need to meet health, environmental or aesthetic requirements on commercial and infrastructure projects.
While Olmurtech now operates through a national reseller network, Evan and Simone have kept the business deliberately accessible. Customers can speak with the directors or trained product specialists rather than working through several layers of a large corporate support system. The company says it will recommend a product only when it believes it suits the proposed application.
That approach reflects how the business started. Olmurtech wasn’t founded around a plan to create another product catalogue. It began because an experienced installer understood what one product could do, knew he didn’t want to lose it and was willing to contact its manufacturer on the other side of the world.
More than a decade later, the company built from those final 11 cartons is helping Australian tradespeople reconsider how materials can be joined, and what the products holding a building together should be expected to deliver.
To learn more about Olmurtech and their products, visit olmurtech.com.au.
