Fire behavior
This article covers the use of the term fire behavior in construction. Building materials are divided into building material classes that describe the behavior in fire tests. Fire classes are not just a material property; B. influenced by the shape, the specific surface and density, the bond with other materials, the fasteners and the processing technology.
Fire behavior of building materials
The fire behavior of a building material in the form of the building code designations is assigned to the classes of building material tests according to the European standard ( EN ) and DIN according to the following table:
| German designation by the building authorities |
Additional requirement | Fire behavior class EN 13501-1 |
Building material class DIN 4102-1 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| no smoke development |
no flaming dripping / falling off |
|||
| non- flammable without flammable components |
x | x | A1 | A1 |
| non-combustible with combustible components |
x | x | A2-s1, d0 | A2 |
| flame retardant | x | x | B, C-s1, d0 | B1 |
| x | A2, B, C-s2, d0 | |||
| x | A2, B, C-s3, d0 | |||
| x | A2, B, C-s1, d1 | |||
| x | A2, B, C-s1, d2 | |||
| A2, B, C-s3, d2 | ||||
| normally flammable | x | x | D-s1, d0 | B2 |
| x | D-s2, d0 | |||
| x | D-s3, d0 | |||
| x | D-s1, d2 | |||
| D-s2, d2 | ||||
| D-s3, d2 | ||||
| x | E. | |||
| E-d2 | ||||
| easily inflammable | F. | B3 | ||
In the fourth column the short name for the fire behavior class according to EN 13501-1 is given. For comparison, the fifth column contains the short names of the previous DIN 4102-1, which is initially valid until further notice. Both standards are introduced technical building regulations according to which building products or building materials can be classified.
A clear assignment of the European classifications according to EN 13501-1 to the classes according to DIN 4102-1 is not possible in many cases due to different test criteria . Only in the case of non-combustible building materials (class A) is there extensive agreement between national and European standards.
In the case of building products according to EN 13501-1, there is an additional classification of smoke development and a finer gradation for burning waste or dripping. According to DIN 4102-1, these evaluations are to be noted in the test certificate.
EN 13501-1 provides the following subdivisions of the classes for fire behavior, smoke development (abbreviation s for smoke ) and burning droplets or waste (abbreviation d for droplets ):
| Abbreviation | Requirement |
|---|---|
| s1 | no / hardly any smoke development |
| s2 | limited smoke development |
| s3 | unrestricted smoke development |
| d0 | no dripping / falling off |
| d1 | limited dripping / falling off |
| d2 | heavy dripping / falling off |
According to the sample building regulations (and all state building regulations), a highly flammable building material (F or B3) may only be used in a building if it is not easily flammable in combination with another building material.
Building materials that are classified as flame-retardant may not continue to burn, glow and / or smolder independently after exposure to fire. The minimum requirement for the use of normally flammable building materials is intended to ensure that a building itself only makes a limited contribution to the fire in the event of an incipient fire, which is represented by a match flame.
Up to class C (previously B1), the building materials are considered self-extinguishing. From class E (previously B2), the fire is self-sustaining, even if the cause of the fire does not apply.
EN 13501-1 provides for a partially slightly different classification for floor coverings. The fire behavior classes of floor coverings are identified with the abbreviation fl (for floor ). Floor coverings are tested with the aim of building material class B1 according to DIN 4102-14, other building materials in the test device according to DIN 4102-15.
The allocation of building materials to fire behavior classes is carried out through fire tests .
Fire behavior class EN 13501-1 |
Test standard |
|---|---|
| A1 | EN ISO 1182, EN ISO 1716, EN 13823 1 |
| A2 | EN ISO 1182, EN ISO 1716, EN 13823 |
| B, C, D | EN 13823, EN ISO 11925-2 |
| E. | EN ISO 11925-2 |
| F. | no test |
Classification of building materials according to DIN 4102-1
The classification of building materials according to their fire behavior or their flammability can in Germany according to DIN 4102 Part 1 into five building material classes (sometimes also referred to as flammability classes or incorrectly referred to as fire classes ).
- A - non-combustible building materials
- A1 - non-flammable and without flammable components, evidence is not required if named in DIN 4102-4 (e.g. sand, gravel, natural pumice, cement, lime, foam glass, mortar, (steel) concrete, stones, building boards made of mineral components, pure Mineral fibers, bricks, glass, iron and steel, but no metal dust)
- A2 - non-flammable and to a small extent with flammable components, evidence is not required if named in DIN 4102-4 (e.g. plasterboard according to DIN 18180 with closed surface)
- B - combustible building materials
- B1 - flame-retardant (e.g. wood wool lightweight boards according to DIN EN 13168, plasterboard according to DIN 18180 and perforated surface, hard foam thermal insulation boards with flame retardant additives, synthetic resin plaster, if it is made from mineral aggregates and is applied to solid and mineral substrates, various floor coverings such as oak parquet, cast or rolled asphalt screed)
- B2 - normally inflammable (e.g. wood from certain dimensions, plasterboard composite panels, rigid foam thermal insulation panels without flame retardant additives, various plastics and panels or molded pieces made from them, electrical cables and various bitumen sheeting as well as roofing and sealing sheets. by attempts to prove that they do not fall off while burning)
- B3 - highly flammable (everything that cannot be grouped into A, B1 or B2)
| Building material classes DIN 4102-1 |
Test standard |
|---|---|
| A1 | DIN 4102-1 |
| A2 | DIN 4102-1 Annex A, DIN 4102-16, DIN 51900-2 / 3, DIN 4102-8 |
| B1 | DIN 4102-1, DIN 4102-16, DIN 4102-14 |
| B2 | DIN 4102-1 |
| B3 | no test |
Building materials must i. d. Usually also pass the tests of the "worse" building material classes.
Terminology
- According to the sample building regulations, the term building products includes building materials as well as components, other products and systems. In EN 13501-1, this term is again used as a generic term for building materials, composite building materials or their components, which means that building products and not exclusively building materials are tested there in the sense of the standard.
- Colloquially, as in the publications of many building material manufacturers, one often incorrectly speaks of fire class instead of building material class . However, according to EN 2, fire classes describe the classification of fires according to the type of fuel and are used to determine which fire extinguishers are suitable for fire fighting (e.g. ABC powder extinguishers for fire classes A, B and C).
- The fire behavior of components (supporting structure, walls, ceilings, doors, etc.) is differentiated by requirements for their fire resistance and determined by a fire test .
- The term flammability is used for the fire behavior of materials and chemical substances outside the building industry and is not part of building regulations.
Norms
- DIN 4102-1 Fire behavior of building materials and building components - Part 1: Building materials; Terms, requirements and tests .
- DIN 4102-4 Fire behavior of building materials and components - Part 4: Compilation and application of classified building materials, components and special components .
- DIN 4102-8 Fire behavior of building materials and components - Part 8: Small test bench .
- DIN 4102-14 Fire behavior of building materials and components; Floor coverings and floor coatings; Determination of flame spread when exposed to a radiant heater .
- DIN 4102-15 Fire behavior of building materials and components; Brandschacht .
- DIN 4102-16 Fire behavior of building materials and components - Part 16: Execution of fire shaft tests .
- DIN 18180 plasterboard - types and requirements .
- EN 2 fire classes .
- EN 13501-1 Classification of building products and types of fire behavior - Part 1: Classification with the results from the tests on fire behavior of building products .
- EN 13823 Tests on fire behavior of building products - Thermal stress from a single burning object for building products with the exception of floor coverings .
- EN ISO 1182 Tests on the reaction to fire of products - non-combustibility test .
- EN ISO 1716 Tests on the reaction to fire of products - Determination of the heat of combustion (the calorific value) .
- EN ISO 9239-1 Tests on the reaction to fire of floor coverings - Part 1: Determination of the reaction to fire when exposed to a radiant heater .
- EN ISO 11925-2 Fire behavior tests - Flammability of products by direct exposure to flames - Part 2: Single flame test .
literature
- Frieder Kircher, Rainer Sonntag: Die Roten Hefte, Issue 25 - Preventive Fire Protection . 1st edition. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-17-016996-8 .
Web links
- German Institute for Building Technology
- Building material classification according to DIN EN 13501-1 and fire resistance classes according to DIN EN 13501-2 on the website of the Hagebau fire protection alliance
- Material Testing Office NRW (PDF; 49 kB) - Allocation of building supervisory names to DIN and EN classes
Individual evidence
- ↑ DIN German Institute for Standardization eV (Ed.): DIN 4102-1: 1998-05 “Fire behavior of building materials and components - Part 1: Building materials” . Berlin.
- ^ Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik (ed.): Sample administrative regulation for technical building regulations . 2017/01 edition. Berlin, S. Appendix 4 .