Description

It has long been believed that certain lining materials will contribute to the spread and severity of fire in buildings, and hence some form of control on the use of materials has been included in building codes. Controls rely on a test to measure, in some way, the potential of the material to contribute to fire growth and spread, and limitations on the use of materials in different parts of buildings, in terms of the measured test performance.

The Building Code of Australia (BCA) has included such requirements, based on requirements in the State regulations that were its antecedents, using the Early Fire Hazard Test as a measure. Well before the introduction of the BCA, industry questioned the use of the Early Fire Hazard Test and the way in which the results were applied.

The purpose of Project 2 is to investigate the need for control and the aptness of the test method and its application to buildings, and to propose alternative requirements based on a logical approach.

This report covers the following areas:

• the need for control;
• key factors that affect the performance of lining materials and their influence on life safety;
• categorisation of buildings by key factors; principles for qualitative levels of performance;
• review and selection of test methods;
• selectrion of test criteria based on available test data;
• application of quantitative test performance levels;
• recommendations for change to the BCA: and recommendations for future work.

The report makes reference to research papers on specific topics that were issued during the course of the Project.