Fire ratings

    Reaction to fire is the response of a product in contributing, by its own decomposition, to a fire to which it is exposed. It relates to the combustibility and ignitability of building materials and can be used to determine how much energy they contribute to the growth of a fire.                                                                                    

The building regulations stipulates the rules and the degree of fire resistance of the elements of structure. The British Standard 476 (BS476) dictates the appropriate fire tests for these elements of structure/materials and grades the level of fire resistance. The tests that are relevant to the Solid Surface industry are the BS476 part 6, and BS476 part 7.

To achieve a Class 0 Fire Rating, products must meet specific British Standards and pass a series of tests designed to test flame spread and propagation.

• The product must first meet the fire propagation requirements as outlined in BS 476-6:1989+A1:2009

• A product must be also be classified as a Class 1 building material for BS 476 - 7:1997

1. REACTION TO FIRE (RETARDANCY) - FIRE AND SMOKE RETARDANCY COATINGS

When deciding on the correct coating system to provide Fire protection to a combustible material such as timber, it is essential that the products meet the standards set out by the new Euroclass System for the fire safety classification of building materials.

 IMPORTANT: The old British Standard Testing and Classifications referred to as Class 0 / Class 1 surface Spread of Flame should no longer be used.

The test methods are totally new and involve exposing the product to direct flame and is called the Single Burn Test or SBI Test.

This test is designed to simulate the flame exposure that would be experienced by material lining the walls of a room when a "wastepaper basket" ignites next to the wall in the corner of a room.

The test measures a Fire Growth Rate (FIGRA), the heat energy contribution to the fire from the product. The result is categorised on a Fire Growth Rate Index.

A second measurement is taken to calculate the volume of smoke produced by the fire and categorised according to a Smoke Growth Rate (SMOGRA) index.

Finally, the test also measures oxygen consumption as well as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide production. These gas concentrations help identify the heat release and the burning characteristics of the tested products.

The Standards to the Euroclass system are referred to as;

European standard - EN 13501-1 reaction to fire classification with parts

BS EN 13823: 2010+A1:2014 single burn test (SBI)

and

BS EN11925-2:2010 single flame ignitability test (SFI).

Classification of individual products

To provide guidance to the user/specifier regarding the performance of a particular product under test. Information is provided by the following process:

There are seven Reaction to Fire classes.

These classes are further divided to provide information on a product’s tendency to produce smoke and flaming droplets / particles based on the results of the SBI Test.

Smoke Generation

Smoke generation is measured for Reaction to Fire classes A2 to D. Smoke emission classifications are not provided for products with an E or F overall rating.

There are three smoke intensity levels:

Fire Generation

Burning droplets/particles can inflict skin burns and cause further spread of fire. Burning droplets/particles are measured for Reaction to Fire classes A2 to E. E-rated products receive a d2 flaming droplet classification. F-rated products receive none.

There are three classes of burning droplets: