Fire Performance

PIR/PUR insulation products meet a wide range of fire performance requirements as stipulated by the Building Regulations and the Insurance Industry.

In many construction applications products are not exposed to any fire risk or are protected by non-combustible materials e.g. cavity wall insulation, and combustibility is not an issue. In other applications where high fire performance is needed, suitable products can be specified.

Products are available which meet Class 0 of the UK Building Regulations and Class 1 surface spread of flame performance when tested to BS 476: Parts 6 and 7. In the new Euroclass system where products are classified from Class A (non-combustible) through to Class F (No Performance Determined), PIR/PUR insulation products are able to meet up to and including Class B. Good fire resistance in tests such as BS 476 Pt 21 and Pt 22 is also possible. Further, PIR/PUR insulation products are available which achieve approval with insurance industry standards such as Factory Mutual’s FM 4450 and FM 4880 and the LPC’s LPS 1181.

In the document “Technical Guidance: Fire Performance of Sandwich Panel Systems” prepared by the BRE for the ABI, it states:

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) Technical Briefing (available here) provides a risk assessment approach to the fire performance of sandwich/composite panels and takes into account research funded by ABI since 1999, which has been particularly targeted at sandwich panels used internally in the food and cold storage industry.

Building Regulation requirements for fire performance of construction products are in a transitional state as the adoption of the harmonised Euroclass system progresses in the UK; British Standards will be replaced by European alternatives at the end of the transitional period. Similar changes will also be implemented in all EU member states to provide a single harmonised set of tests for all EU countries. As in the past, PIR/PUR products will meet the requirements of the Building Regulations for their intended end-use application during the transition period and into the future.

PIR/PUR insulation products are used across a wide range of applications providing exceptional benefits; however, individual products offer different levels of fire performance depending on their end-use application. It is important to ensure that the right product is used in the right end-use application. Recommendations and advice on specific products can be obtained by contacting the individual manufacturing members of BRUFMA.