Following recent events, it’s really important to know the fire standards of the cladding you’re using on buildings. By law, all buildings above 18 metres in height need to have cladding which is fire rated. Most cladding has some sort of protection built in, but only those which are FR should be used on these taller buildings. 

These ratings range from an A1 to a D in accordance with European Standards EN-13501-1.

What does A1 and A2 Rated mean?

Class A1 – Products are described as having no contribution to fire at any stage. BS EN 13501 sets several thresholds for combustion performance when tested to both EN ISO 1716 and EN ISO 1182. One of these thresholds is a maximum heat of combustion of 2MJ/kg. Typical products meeting this classification include most inorganic materials such as metal and stone.

Class A2, s3, d2 – Products are described as having no significant contribution to fire at any stage. BS EN 13501 sets several thresholds for combustion when tested to EN ISO 1182, or both EN ISO 1716 and EN 13823. One of these thresholds is a maximum heat of combustion of 3MJ/kg. A typical product meeting this classification is plasterboard.For comparison, Wood has a typical value of 15 MJ/Kg.

Some products use a slightly different fire classification known as the BR 135 standard, set by the BRE (Building Research Establishment). When using a cladding product that is classified using this method, a full classification report must be supplied to prove compliance with BR 135.

For full information on the fire rating of a specific product, get in touch with us. We’d be more than happy to help. 

About Marco

Part of the Amari Plastics PLC group since 2007 Marco Industries reputation for its work has grown in the industry since its formation in the early 90s. Based in the South East but servicing the whole of the UK and beyond, we have over 20 dedicated specialist machines designed to work with the leading decorative architectural cladding materials and associated panel products from the world’s best manufacturers.

Our sales and technical teams have been involved with high specification panel products and more specifically the rain screen cladding industry for many years. They have built an enviable reputation for their knowledge and practical problem solving whilst always keeping up with the latest innovations. Our customers can feel comfortable in the knowledge that we will always be unbiased in our advice and that we consistently remind ourselves that our reputation has been hard won and is important to us.

In our factory, our fabrication team equally cherish their reputation for quality. Drilling, cutting, rebating, sawing, chamfering, shaping, forming or simply painting – the fabrication team know the customer will demand the best and their work will be on show on high quality buildings all over the construction market. Our ISO 9001 certification puts the cherry on top of a natural inbuilt desire within our team to do things one way – the right way.