In June 2017, the Grenfell tower fire in London once again sounded the alarm for the safety of external insulation of high-rise buildings in the world.In recent years, fires caused by building external thermal insulation materials at home and abroad have continued to occur, causing serious casualties and property losses. Building external wall thermal insulation and fire safety has become a topic of concern worldwide. European and American countries with advanced application of external wall insulation technology have strict requirements on fire safety grades for external wall insulation systems. Below we will introduce the technical standards for building external wall insulation and fire protection in some European countries.
EU technology licensing requirements (ETAG004)
ETAG004 "Technical License for External Wall Insulation Composite System with Plaster Layer" was issued by the European technical licensing organization EOTA. This standard is a technical summary and standardized document of the successful practice of European external wall insulation system for decades. The external wall thermal insulation system involved is a thin plastering method with external thermal insulation boards. ETAG004 puts forward some principled basic regulations on fire performance.The combustion performance requirements of the external wall insulation system in ETAG004 are proposed for the overall structure. The combustion performance level of the ETICS system should be A1, A2, B or C. The effects of thermal insulation materials, base layer and cover layer, interface layer and decorative coatings, reinforcement materials, fasteners, fireproof structures, adhesives and organic additives shall be considered comprehensively during the test.Due to the earlier formulation of the European combustion performance classification standards, it was not possible to consider the use scenarios of all countries. Therefore, some member states have formulated and promulgated their own relevant building regulations based on actual conditions.
British Building Fire Safety Code Requirements
The British Building Fire Safety Code (ADB, 2006 edition) is devoted to the design of building fire safety and consists of two volumes. Volume 1 is about residential buildings, and only involves the fire protection requirements of ordinary residences. The height of more than 18m or special residences need to supplement the design guidance requirements proposed in Volume 2. Volume 2 is for buildings other than residential buildings and covers all other types of buildings covered by the "Building Regulations". For the external fire spread of the building, ADB considers the purpose of the building, the height of the building, the distance to the boundary, and the fire resistance of the components or the complete system (applicable to buildings above 18m) and other factors, giving very detailed and specific. It is stipulated that buildings over 18 meters must use Class A fireproof and thermal insulation materials.
German regulations and certification requirements
The German Building Code (MBO) stipulates that flammable building materials must not be used; building components must be non-flammable or non-flammable under normal circumstances; the covering layer, plastering layer, insulation layer, floor slab and fixtures of the evacuation stairs are all made of non-combustible materials . The Baden-Württemberg Building Code (LBO) and the Hessen Building Code (HBO) also stipulate that at least flammable materials must not be used in construction materials. Generally, building components must be non-combustible or non-combustible. For special structures and buildings with a height of more than 22 meters, the German High-Rise Building Construction and Operation Model Guidelines (MHHR) require that the mortar layer, insulation layer and protective layer of the external wall of the building must use Class A insulation materials. Unlike the UK, the entire building exterior wall must use the same insulation system, and different systems cannot be used according to different heights. That is, when the height exceeds 22m, the entire exterior wall of the building must use a Class A system.
Fire protection requirements for thermal insulation foam applications in the United States
The American Building Code (IBC-2006) classifies building types according to the fire resistance limit requirements of exterior walls, exterior components, and interior components. Different building types use different standards for insulation materials. When using external wall insulation materials, the fire resistance limit must be tested in strict accordance with ASTME119 "Standard Test Method for Fire Tests of Building Structures and Materials", and the fire resistance limit should be guaranteed to meet the requirements of the specification. For example, in New York State of the United States, in residential buildings higher than 75 feet or 22.86 meters, it is clearly stipulated that polystyrene board thin plaster exterior wall external insulation systems with a fire resistance limit of less than two hours are not allowed; if it is determined to use B1 Insulation material means that a non-combustible protective layer with a thickness of at least 50mm on the outside of the insulation layer can be satisfied, which is similar to the 50-60mm thick concrete outer sheet structure layer in the concrete sandwich insulation structure used in my country, which can be understood as encouragement Use Class A non-combustible insulation material.
Australian building code requirements
After the high-rise fire in London, the Australian
Building Code Committee (AB-CB) revised the Australian National Construction Code and revised the "Australian External Insulation Fire Resistance Performance Research Report" published in August 2016 accordingly, and Re-released in March 2018, the combustion performance requirements of insulation materials for external wall insulation systems adopted similar regulations to those in the United Kingdom. Another: In fact, prior to this, Australia all required the design of roof insulation materials to be Class A.