A fire test is a means of determining whether

fire protection Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as we ...

products meet minimum performance criteria as set out in a

building code A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the standards for constructed objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Buildings must conform to the code to obtain planning permissi ...

or other applicable legislation. Successful tests in laboratories holding national accreditation for testing and certification result in the issuance of a

certification listing A certification listing is a document used to guide installations of certified products, against which a field installation is compared to make sure that it complies with a regulation (e.g., a building code). Typically, products or items are req ...

. Components and systems subject to certification fire testing include fire rated walls and floors, closures within them such as windows, fire doors, fire dampers,

structural steel Structural steel is a category of steel used for making construction materials in a variety of shapes. Many structural steel shapes take the form of an elongated beam having a profile of a specific cross section. Structural steel shapes, si ...

, and fire stops. Fire tests are conducted both on

active fire protection Active fire protection (AFP) is an integral part of fire protection. AFP is characterized by items and/or systems, which require a certain amount of motion and response in order to work, contrary to passive fire protection. Categories of active fi ...

and on

passive fire protection Passive fire protection (PFP) is components or systems of a building or structure that slows or impedes the spread of the effects of fire or smoke without system activation, and usually without movement. Examples of passive systems include floo ...

items. There are full-scale, small-scale and bench-scale tests. Fire testing considers all applicable provisions of the product certification.

Examples of fire testing for products and systems

* ASTM E84 Standard Test Method for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials, also known as the Steiner tunnel test * ASTM E1354 Standard Test Method for Heat and Visible Smoke Release Rates for Materials and Products Using an Oxygen Consumption Calorimeter * ASTM D7309 Standard Test Method for Determining Flammability Characteristics of Plastics and Other Solid Materials Using Microscale Combustion Calorimetry * ASTM D2863 Standard Test Method for Measuring the Minimum Oxygen Concentration to Support Candle-Like Combustion of Plastics (Oxygen Index) * DIN 4102 Part 1 Fire behaviour of building materials and building components – Part 1: Building materials; concepts, requirements and tests * UL 94 Standard for Tests for Flammability of Plastic Materials for Parts in Devices and Appliances * UL 2221 Tests of Fire Resistive Grease Duct Enclosure Assemblies * UL 1479 Fire Tests of Through-Penetration Firestops * UL 1709 Rapid Rise Fire Tests of Protection Materials for Structural Steel * UL 2085 Protected Aboveground Tanks for Flammable and Combustible Liquids * EN 16034 Pedestrian doorsets, industrial, commercial, garage doors and openable windows – Product standard, performance characteristics – Fire resisting and/or smoke control characteristics * FAR 25.853 -1& ASTM E 906 Standard Test Method for Heat and Visible Smoke Release Rates for Materials and Products, also known as the OSU Test

Organisations that perform fire testing

* QAI Laboratories * Southwest Research Institute * Groupe CTT Group, Canada * Currenta, Germany *

Exova Exova Group plc was a laboratory-based testing company, operating primarily within the Testing segment of the Testing Inspection and Certification (“TIC”) sector. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a ...

* Applus+ Laboratories * NTA Inc * Intertek * Underwriters Laboratories * FM Global * National Research Council in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

* iBMB at Technische Universität Braunschweig * EFECTIS (regroup CTICM & TNO fire proofing laboratories) * NGC Testing Services * Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants

Ad hoc fire testing

A fire test can also mean an ad hoc test performed to gather information in order to understand a specific hazard, such as a construction or storage configuration. Tests can be bench scale (e.g., flammable liquid flash point), medium scale (e.g., storage commodity classification), or full scale (e.g., replication of an entire rack storage configuration).''NFPA 13 Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems'' 2007 Edition, Annex C ''Explanation of Test Data and Procedures for Rack Storage'' Typical information gathered from full-scale testing is heat release rate vs. time, smoke production and species composition, radiant heat, and interaction with fire control or suppression systems.

Fire test examples

Many fire tests are run by official laboratories for the purpose of product certification. However, some manufacturers of fire protection products also maintain their own facilities and run tests for

R & D Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving exist ...

purposes before going to the expense and exposure of a test at a third party facility. Some universities have functioning fire research groups which are equipped to run fire tests on building materials. File:Nelson furnace.jpg, Private fire test furnace used for research and development by a firestop manufacturer File:3m fire test furnace cottage grove mn.jpg, Private test furnace, ready to test a cable tray firestop

system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and express ...

File:Cmp test 7.jpg, Furnace used in fire testing. File:Cmp test 13.jpg, Following successful three hour fire endurance test, application of hose stream

References

Fire protection Tests

Examples of fire testing for products and systems

Organisations that perform fire testing

Ad hoc fire testing

Fire test examples

See also

References