Knowledge / Materials and construction
Is it fire rated?
There is no single answer for "the panel", and the reason is how the standards work. A reaction-to-fire classification is issued against a material in a stated build-up, never against a product name. Certificates are issued against a specification and supplied on a project basis.
There is no single answer for "the panel", and the reason is how the standards work. A reaction-to-fire classification is issued against a material in a stated build-up, never against a product name. What we hold for the Reverberation Control Panel is a Class 0 classification against the foam itself: Class 1 surface spread of flame under BS 476 Part 7, with the Part 6 fire propagation limit. The classification is the foam's, not the assembled panel's, and there is no separate core to attribute it to: the panel is foam with an adhesive layer on the back. There is no EN 13501-1 classification for any C-ATS panel today, so if your specification is written to Euroclass, raise it at tender stage rather than later. And in a finished C-ATS room the panels are concealed: the exposed lining surface is the fabric, which carries its own classification from whoever supplies it. Certificates are issued against a specification and supplied on a project basis: name the products and the finish when you ask.
Which regime is your job under?
A job is only ever under one of three, and the three do not convert.
Class 0
UK building work, wall and ceiling linings. Classifies surface spread of flame under BS 476 Part 7, plus a fire propagation limit under BS 476 Part 6. Both, or it is not Class 0.
EN 13501-1
European specifications, and increasingly UK ones written to Euroclass. Classifies A1 to F, with a smoke sub-rating s1–s3 and a flaming-droplet sub-rating d0–d2. A Euroclass without both suffixes is an incomplete answer.
IMO FTP Code
Vessels, in practice a Lloyd's Register sign-off. Annex 1 Part 2 for smoke and toxicity; Annex 1 Part 5 for surface flammability.
A Class 0 line on a datasheet does not answer a Euroclass question, and neither answers a marine surveyor.
Why the useful question is never "is this panel fire rated"
Change the substrate, the adhesive, the cavity or the facing and you are outside the certificate. That is why an honest datasheet says which material is classified rather than what the product is classified as. The question that gets a job signed off is: what is each layer, what is each layer classified as, and what is the surface the room actually presents?
On a concealed system, the surface is the fabric
The reflex is to chase the treatment's rating first, and on a concealed system that is the wrong document to chase first. The fabric is the finished face and the one on the inspector's list, so specify its rating deliberately, at the same time as the fabric itself: it is the rating most often left to whoever happens to be supplying the finish. The treatment behind it is still specified, because a concealed layer is part of the construction, but it is the second question.
How to get the right document
Establish the regime. List the layers, including the fabric and the adhesive. Ask us for the certificate against that specification, naming the products and the finish. We supply on a project basis, and there is no download. Ask early: the same request is administration at tender stage and a programme problem the week before an inspection.
What to read next
Talk to us with your specification in hand. The system carries the rest of the range.