What is Reaction to fire testing?Why reaction to fire testing?

What is Reaction to fire testing?

Reaction to fire testing looks at the combustibility and ignitability of a material i.e. its contribution to fire development and spread, rather than its ability to resist the passage of fire (which is proven by fire resistance testing). How a fire develops in the very early stages is of crucial importance to ensure safe evacuation, whether you are in a plane, car, boat or building.

Why reaction to fire testing?

Reaction to fire testing tends to be smaller in scale than fire resistance testing and is carried out on specific components or materials representative of end-use application. Fire spreads as a result of heat transfer when a material immediately next to a flame is heated enough for it to ignite.

How a material, substance or product will perform when exposed to a heat source can be determined through developmental research and testing programs. The early stages of a fire's development heavily influence its overall behavior.

Legislation considers this by requiring reaction to fire testing to be performed characteristics of certain building components to be determined and then controlled.