Fire requires a designer to exercise the highest duty of care and to assess and advise upon all possible fire risks.
The accurate identification of combustible and non-combustible materials is one of the foundations of fire-risk assessment and the elimination of fire hazards.
As regular visitors to our site would be aware, we have recently uploaded a Fire Performance Video as part of our ongoing campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of PIR panels and their ability to claim they are ‘non-combustible’.
This video of two fire tests conducted by an independent fire laboratory clearly highlights the substantial differences in composite panel stability, demonstrating the dramatic contrast between stone wool composite panels and polyisocyanurate foam [PIR] plastic insulation core panels.
The tests were conducted by the world leading SP Fire Technology laboratory in Sweden using the large-scale fire test ISO 9705 which is recognised throughout Europe.
We encourage you to take a few minutes to view this important video,
The video clearly shows:
• LPS1181 approved composite panels vary markedly in their fire performance
• “External claddings that are LPCB approved to LPS 1181” does not actually mean a “non-combustible building”.
• Eurobond stone wool panels have a non-combustible core with far superior fire resistance performance than equivalent plastic foam PIR panels.
Designers have to be aware of the risk in specifying materials that are not actually non-combustible. If all materials used in a building are non-combustible it is more likely that the final design solution will deliver low fire risk.
The fire tests in the DVD clearly demonstrate the advantage of Eurobond products with their stone wool cores.
