Fire
Safety in the Design, Construction and Use of Buildings
The
concept of Fire Risk Assessment has had
a major impact on the design of both new and existing
buildings. This has been reflected in recent changes in
fire safety practice and procedures, and in particular
the introduction of fire safety engineering principles
at various levels in the design of new buildings. A new
standard BS9999 Fire Safety in the Design, Construction
and Use of Buildings has been released as a draft for
development and when incorporated will replace most of
the current BS5588 series of standards.
'Draft
Document 9999' has been published and will have
a massive impact on the way the fire safety requirements
of a building are determined. It will result in extended
travel distances, reduced corridor, exit and stair widths.
Application of the standard will result in reduction in
the number of staircases required in a building. All this
means massive savings for the client. The standard will
be a huge design aid in the future in fire safety design.
For
years architects and designers have argued that every
building is individual and the fire safety requirements
should reflect this individuality. To date this has not
been the case and designers have had to argue on merit
their preferred course of action. Future fire safety requirements
however, will be based on the perceived level of risk
in the building. Weaknesses in one aspect of the required
fire precautions may be compensated for by strengths in
others...
....Introducing
Pirthane Class O Rated Insulation - A World First
Pirthane
O insulates to Building Regulations and is easy to install.
It allows fast-track insulation on new and existing buildings.
Pirthane
O has a Class O fire rating suitable for building interiors
and gives effective condensation control whilst upgrading
thermal efficiency.
TYPICAL
APPLICATIONS
Insulation of :
-
Car
Parks
-
Concrete
Soffitts
-
Roof
Internals
-
Air
Plenums
ADVANTAGES
-
Class
0 to BS476 Parts 6 & 7.
-
Fast
track application; half the installation time.
-
Excellent
and permanent adhesion to all substrates, low maintenance
costs.
-
Low
thermal conductivity at reduced thicknesses; saving
space.
-
Does
not contain mineral fibres, zero air erosion, no health
& safety problems.
-
Penetrations
caused by post installation work (ceiling hangers,
cable trays etc.) can easily be sealed and repaired.
-
The
best fire properties of all spray applied foam insulation.
-
Installed
only by Isothane approved & experienced contractors.
All of the standard spray foam we use
has a fire rating of Class 1 according
to British Standards guidelines BS476 part 7. The foam
has been tested by Warrington Fire Research centre in
the following way:
The
Part 7 test
A
sample of PU foam, approximately 1m x 0.25m, is placed
directly in front of a large scale super hot gas heater,
so hot that it would be impossible to stand in front of.
The heat source does not give off a flame, but merely
heats the foam up to levels found in large scale fires.
A naked flame is then introduced to the foam while the
inspectors watch carefully, to see if the flame spreads
across the foam.
If
the flame 'flashes' across the whole surface of the foam,
this means that the foam is giving off flammable gasses
and would pose a real threat in a fire. If the flame flashes
for only a few seconds and travels only a couple of inches
or less, the product will pass the test and receive a
fire rating of Class 1.
The
Part 6 test
A
sample of foam is contained within a laboratory 'toaster'
style device, and exposed to very high temperatures to
see how the foam reacts and measures the heat released
with time. If a material passes both the part 7 &
the more stringent part 6 tests, it is given a Class O
fire rating (Pirthane Class O system).
Non
UK foam
A
type of foam may exist in the UK that is actually imported
from Europe and Canada, that isn't Class 1 fire rated,
and has in fact been tested to German B2 standards (DIN
4102 B2 to be precise). The harsh reality is that this
foam may catch fire and combust very easily compared to
UK standard Class 1 or Class O foams. Though the price
may be cheaper, the fact that it is not Class 1 or the
higher rated Class O means it is technically illegal in
the eyes of building regulations. Insurance companies
also wouldn't look too kindly on an inferior B2 rated
foam either.
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