This method of test for surface burning characteristics of building materials is applicable to any type of building material that, by its own structural quality or the manner in which it is applied, is capable of supporting itself in position or being supported in the test furnace to a thickness comparable to its intended use.

The purpose of the test is to determine the comparative burning characteristics of the material under test by evaluating the spread of flame over its surface and the density of the smoke developed when exposed to a test fire, and thus to establish a basis on which surface burning characteristics of different materials are compared, without specific regard to all the end-use parameters that affect the surface burning characteristics.

This method of test is intended to register performance during the period of exposure, and not to determine suitability for use after the test exposure. Reference the requirements in the Standard for Fire Tests of Building Construction and Materials, UL 263, for procedures for determining the performance, under fire exposure conditions, of building constructions and materials when incorporated into a test structure and subjected to a standard exposing fire of controlled extent and severity