Independent 3rd Party SATRA Fire Tests give our clients total assurance
As a specialist supplier of GRP composite systems to the Rail & Construction industry, Waux works closely with main contractors including Network Rail to ensure that our products are backed up by third party testing, to give clients and end users total assurance.
With products that are utilised in significant applications, such as passenger footbridges, site engineer walkways, station platform refurbishments, and access staircases it is our priority for products to be tested for their reaction to fire. Although Waux GRP products manufactured in fire resistant resins give huge benefits over traditional materials such as timber, many composite products that are available on the market still do not currently meet British, European Standards.
With products that are utilised in significant applications, such as passenger footbridges, site engineer walkways, station platform refurbishments, and access staircases it is our priority for products to be tested for their reaction to fire. Although Waux GRP products manufactured in fire resistant resins give huge benefits over traditional materials such as timber, many composite products that are available on the market still do not currently meet British, European Standards.
We worked with SATRA Technology, a widely recognised independent research and testing organisation, to test products from two of our nationwide renowned ranges, VulcaGR!P® and GridEX®.
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE SATRA EN 13501-1 : 2018 FIRE TEST?
Under the Construction Products Regulation (CPR), manufacturers must test floor coverings for ‘reaction to fire’ which is carried out in accordance with methods specified in EN13501-1: 2018. Under the standard EN13501-1:2018, two tests are carried out:
- EN ISO 9239-1:2010. Reaction to fire tests for floorings. Part 1: Determination of the burning behaviour using a radiant heat source. (L/NCS). This is a test procedure for assessing the burning behaviour (spread of flame and smoke development) of horizontally mounted floor coverings firstly exposed to a radiant heat source and then ignited with a pilot flame.
- EN ISO 11925-2:2020. Reaction to fire tests – Ignitability of products subject to direct impingement of flame. Part 2- Single-flame source test. (L/NCS). This test determines the ignitability of a vertically mounted test specimen when a small flame is directly applied to its surface and/or one of its edges. No other heat source is used.
Image shows flooring flame test in action.WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLASSES & REFERENCE FIRE SITUATIONS?
The relationship between classes and reference fire situations for floorings is as follows:
| Class Ffl | Products which cannot be classified in one of the classes A1fl, A2fl, Bfl, Cfl, Dfl, Efl. |
| Class Efl | Products capable of resisting a small flame. |
| Class Dfl | Products satisfying Efl and in addition capable of resisting, for a certain period, a heat flux attack. |
| Class Cfl | As class Dfl but satisfying more stringent requirements. |
| Class Bfl | As class Cfl but satisfying more stringent requirements. |
| Class A2fl | Satisfying the same requirements as class Bfl relating to the heat flux. In addition, under the conditions of a fully developed fire these products will not significantly contribute to the fire load and fire growth. |
| Class A1fl | Class A1fl products will not contribute in any stage of the fire, including the fully developed fire. For that reason they are assumed to be capable of satisfying automatically all requirements of all lower classes. |
SATRA state that the reaction to fire classification may be valid for products within the same family, where family is defined as a range of products within defined limits of variability of its parameters, e.g., thickness, density, end use application etc.
DID YOU KNOW?
To meet the demands of approved GRP products in the Rail industry, specifically London Underground, Waux have separately tested the phenolic range as used on Crossrail.Waux readily provides free professional advice on the most suitable product for your project specification, so get in touch with our technical team today to discuss your requirements.
To request copies of the fire test technical reports, please call 020 8057 8618 or submit your request via the Contact page and we will provide certificate copies.
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