NON-COMBUSTIBLE FIRE RETARDANT BOARDS

Boards achieving a Euroclass A1 rating under BS EN 13501-1 can be termed as non-combustible. Referred to as fire-retardant or calcium silicate boards, these non-combustible boards play a crucial role in preventing fire spread, preserving structural stability, and containing the spread of fire and smoke between spaces, ensuring safety for building occupants. They offer heightened fire protection for drylining, wall lining, and ceiling systems. Remarkably, these boards stand out by effectively blending resistance to humidity, mechanical robustness, and fire resistance, making them a rare combination in the market.

In fact, all A1 products are classified as non-combustible. A1-rated boards are not given smoke emission or flaming droplet ratings, on the assumption that they make no contribution to fire growth or spread. Moreover, Euroclass A1 products will not contribute in any stage of the fire including the fully developed fire. It is recommended using non-combustible boards for facade cladding on high-rise and high-risk buildings. Therefore, it is excellent option for buildings over 18m in height. Boards can be used in the construction industry providing from 30 up to 240 minutes fire protection.

NON-COMBUSTIBLE BOARDS INSTALLATION

A fire protective board alone cannot stop a fire. For the board to perform, it must be held in place with the correct types and distances of fixings, and different boards need to be correctly joined so that flames do not penetrate through any gaps. If a board shrinks or deforms to a significant degree, then more complex solutions are needed for the fixings and joints, such as mounting clips, metal substructures and joint fillers. This will show in the test reports and installation instructions of the board. If mounting instructions are not carefully followed, for example, by omitting or not carefully applying a required joint filler, or using the wrong type of fixing or a fixing distance larger than allowed, then the fire resistance during fire exposure will be drastically reduced.

NON-COMBUSTIBLE BOARD APPLICATIONS 

Fire retardanant boad can be used in following applications such as:

• Fire resistant partitions, 
• Garages, 
• Corridors, 
• Fire resistant ceilings suspended beneath wood,
• Steel floors,
• Concrete floors with direct fixing under wood floors,
• Hotels,
• Offices, 
• Public libraries,
• Schools, 
• Court houses, 
• Hospitals, 
• Cinemas,
• Shopfitting,
• Bar fitting.

FIRE RETARDANT MANUFACTURERS | PRODUCTS

There are many different types of fire protective boards, with different production technologies and compositions. Some boards rely more on thermal insulation values, and some more on heat absorption, but in the end they all aim to maximize the temperature reduction on the cold side compared to the fireside. Different board types and a wide range of board thicknesses are available, each suited for specific fire safety applications. Apart from the fire resistance performance, each board type has specific advantages, such as easy installation, resistance against impact or resistance against weather exposure. We stock the strongest A1 non-combustible boards on the market so you can be sure you're getting the most durable cement board available.

RCM Y-WALL

Y-wall board is used primarily as a fire rated sheathing board or building board. Used extensively on both steel frame and timber frame structures, Y-wall is used behind all types of façade solutions, as well in ceilings offering a non-combustible classification.

SUPALUX

Supalux is the ultimate high-performance fire protection board from Promat. Supalux is a strong, lightweight non-combustible building board made of a calcium silicate composition. Board offers flexibility with between 30 to 240 minutes of fire protection.

MAGPLY

Magply fire board is a technically advanced magnesium oxide construction panel that provides exceptional performance in building applications combining superior reaction to fire performance, resilience, resistance to moisture and mould with some sound insulation. Boards are manufactured from naturally occurring materials, which are combined with alkaline resistant glass fibres for strength and integrity in a manufacturing process that produces very little in the way of CO2 emissions. Magply can be used as an alternative to wood, plywood, gypsum and cement based particle boards. It provides a dimensionally stable and reliable material with impressive fire performance for constructional uses.

PROMAT

Promat offers one of the most complete and efficient ranges of fire boards on the market. Promat boards include a number of features that set them apart from other building materials such as being resistant to humidity, fully tested and third party certificated. Boards are made by the world's leading producer of calcium silicate fire protection boards based on PROMAXON® patented technology. Most Promat boards are classified for a durability of 25 years (the best possible result) for internal application and, in some cases, even for semi-exposed application.

MONOLUX 800 | MONOLUX 500 | PROMAFOUR | PROMAT TLFR BOARD |  PROMATECT L500

STS

Sts board is a heavy-duty fibre cement board boasting impressive fire protection properties for applications both internally and externally. Achieving it’s Euro Class A1 Fire Rating put’s it into the league of boards with the highest level of fire rated performance within the construction industry. Along with this, you can achieve up to 118 minutes fire insulation burn time on a very simple party wall build up.

FIRE RESISTANCE REI MARKING | 15 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 60 | 90 | 120 | 180 | 240 | 360 | MIN

The fire resistance is always expressed in minutes, usually in classes that are multiples of 30 minutes. For example, a fire protected load-bearing steel structure that can withstand fire for at least 90 minute. Fire protection classifications are normally reported in terms of a period of fire resistance. The resistance to fire is the ability of a structure or an individual compartment (external wall, beams, doors, and fire barriers, etc..) to resist a determined amount of time to its stability, integrity and isolation capability. Expression in minutes (15, 20, 30, 40, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240, and 360) about the nominal fire curve. Simply, this means how elements either in combination or individually stop a fire spreading, how they restrict temperature rise and how the elements load-bearing capacity is maintained. A range of solutions have been tested for use in a variety of fire-resistant applications, providing fire resistance periods ranging from 30 to 240 minutes to assist the design of safe buildings. For the classification of the elements not meeting the criteria R, it is automatically sufficient as long as E and I are met. The REI marking identifies the fire-resistance rating of a structure and consists of the following elements:

R - Load-bearing. The ability of a construction element to preserve its mechanical characteristics and the relevant load capacity during a normal fire.

E - Integrity. In other words, the structures ability to NOT allow the passage or production of gas or vapor to the area NOT exposed to the fire.

I - Thermal Insulation. To clarify, the ability of a structure to reduce within a temperature limits the transfer of heat to the unexposed (cold) side. The temperature limit is usually 140°C.

EUROCLASS SYSTEM VS CLASS 0

The Euroclass system defining the fire performance of building products came into existence in the year 2000. It was introduced by the European Union (EU) to remove trade barriers between individual member states. Before the introduction, manufacturers had to test building products in individual countries. All of them had their own unique testing methods to define the fire performance of a product. For instance, a company from Germany which wanted to sell facade cladding panels in the UK and France, had to get their products tested in both countries in order to obtain approval to enter these markets. The EU solved this situation by introducing a classification system that applied to all member states. However, this created new problems in streamlining existing national regulations with this Euroclass system. In the UK Building Regulations on fire safety (1991), a classification was introduced for materials used in wall and ceiling linings to determine the surface spread of flames, with Class 4 being the worst and Class 1 being the best (the least distanced and slowest spreading of flames). Class 0 indicates a Class 1 spread of flames and also takes into account the (limited) amount of heat released from the surface of a product. When the Euroclass system was introduced, countries such as the UK faced a transition period where both the existing national standards were referred to alongside the mandatory harmonised European classification. In UK building regulations, although only meant to be a transition period, both systems were used alongside each other, a situation that exists still to this day. This causes serious problems, because Class 0 simply does not indicate the same performance as the Euroclass system does. Generally speaking, non-combustible simply means that a material does not contribute to a fire. Combustible materials have a higher calorific value than non-combustible materials and can therefore contribute to the spread of a fire. In the Euroclass system, classes B to F are combustible. The Euroclass system, which is the leading standard in Europe for fire safety classification of building materials, consists of the levels A1, A2, B, C, D, E and F. Levels from B to F are for combustible materials, although there is quite a wide variety between them. The gradation of non-combustibility is determined by the Euroclass system, where classes A1 and A2 are non-combustible and B-F combustible. A1 and A2 classifications can be given on the basis of a successful non-combustibility test. The calorific value is defined here, which should be of a very low value. The Euroclass system is based on a stacked level of testing: with every class, there are more strict rules to comply with. In class F, either nothing is tested or a product failed to achieve a higher level. Class E only tests with a small flame for a short time. For classes D to B, the method of SBI-testing is used. Lower classifications (Euroclass C to F) are even less fire safe. An F classification even means the material hasn’t managed to pass any of the tests for a higher class.

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