Fire performance
BS 84 141 - NFPA 285
Fire performance
GammaStone Air panels are non-flammable, smoke-free and have no dripping (non-existent burning droplets). They are therefore extremely safe in the event of a building fire. They meet all the requirements to be installed both in ventilated façade and in interior cladding, in exodus zones and in internal false ceilings (Reaction to Fire Class 1 attributed in accordance with UNI 9177). They have also obtained the RINA MARED certification, so they can be installed on ships.
Fire Performance Testing
The panels were subjected to 16 fire tests with results higher than those required by the ongoing regulations in Europe, the USA and Australia. In Italy, they comply with the Decree of the Ministry of the Interior of 15 March 2005 and the Guide for the determination of the “fire safety requirements of façades in civil buildings”. The most rigorous and significant fire performance test of the ventilated façade installation is the NFPA 285 performed in the United States, in the laboratory of Intertek, a multinational inspection, product testing and certification company. Intertek is the world’s largest technical testing group on consumer goods with a network of more than 1000 laboratories in 100 countries.
The test consists of replicating a ventilated façade in all its components, starting a very strong fire that comes out of the window below, and observing the panels’ reaction when exposed to the flames for 30 minutes. To pass the NFPA 285 test, you must meet the following requirements:
- the fire must NOT spread to the upper floors
- as soon as the fire is extinguished the panels must NOT BURN
- the temperature on the upper floors must NOT exceed certain limits
A very similar test is the BS 8414 performed in England, at the government laboratories of the BRE. Their methodology is similar to the American one. Once again, to pass the test, the fire must not propagate to the upper floors, as soon as the fire is extinguished the panels must not burn and the temperature on the upper floors must not exceed certain limits.
GammaStone panels have excellently passed both tests.
NFPA 285 - BS 8414-1
GammaStone Air panels have passed the two most stringent international tests required by strict American (NFPA 285) and British (BS8414-1) fire regulations. GammaStone's commitment to providing high quality ventilated and drained rain shielding systems is manifested in the recent passing of NFPA 285, a rigorous American test that complies with the fire regulations of the external panels installed on the facades of buildings. This confirms that GammaStone products can be installed on building facades safely and without restrictions. The BS 8414-1test is the most stringent in the industry. In this case, our material was installed on a concrete structure using the aluminium anchoring system of the ventilated façades. The surface of more than 30 square metres, which reached 8.5 metres in height, was subjected to flames emitted by a combustion chamber of 2 metres obtained at the base of the wall itself. The “fire test” lasts a total of 60 minutes, of which the first 30 minutes of direct exposure to the flame. This test is considered critical for the use of building materials in the UK, Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.
NFPA 285 Fire Test GammaStone
The BS 8414-1 test predicted a fire that persisted, against the panels arranged on the façade, for 30 minutes.
Façade with GammaStone Air panels
under construction
Assembly
of the façade
Fire reaction of the GammaStone Air façade
after 28’32” of direct exposure to flames
GammaStone Air façade
post-test
GammaStone Fire Test BS 8414-1
The BS 8414-1 test predicted a fire that persisted, against the panels arranged on the façade, for 30 minutes.
Façade with GammaStone Air panels
under construction
Start of the fire
on the GammaStone Air façade
Fire reaction of the GammaStone Air façade
after 28’32” of direct exposure to flames
GammaStone Air façade
post-test