Chiltern International Fire has published a revised Technical Information Sheet T1-0803 Reaction to Fire: Testing and Classification, available free of charge.
Reaction to fire performance relates to the combustibility and ignitability of a material, ie its contribution to fire growth, rather than its ability to resist the passage of fire, proved by fire resistance testing. How a fire develops in the early stages is of crucial importance to ensure safe evacuation.
The tests tend to be smaller in scale and are carried out on specific components or materials representative of end-use application, such as insulation, wall linings, ceiling linings and external wall surfaces.
In England and Wales, the fire requirements for buildings are covered by Approved Document B of the Building Regulations. Requirements are expressed as a classification: circulation spaces within dwellings, for example, may require a European Class C reaction to fire performance, tested against European standards.
The new technical information sheet from Chiltern Fire summarises the range of tests which can be undertaken and compares European with British classifications. It also touches on CE marking and points out that British standards are gradually being superseded by European standards and test methods. However, it is not possible for products tested to obtain a national class and then claim a European class, or vice versa.
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