The Fire Firm

Passive Fire Protection / Penetration Seals

If you are a manufacturer of passive fire protection solutions and interested in expanding you product range or field of application of test results, then you have come to the right place. The Fire Firm has extensive knowledge of rules and regulations regarding passive fire protection, especially regarding penetration seals (EN 1366-3) and linear joint seals (EN 1366-4).

For nearly 10 years we have been active participants in European standardisation committees for the revision of standards with regard to fire rated penetration seals and linear joint seals:

CEN TC 127, Working Group 2, Task Group 1: EN 1366-3 Penetration Seals
CEN TC 127, Working Group 2, Task Group 1: EN 1366-4 Linear Joint Seals
CEN TC 127, Working Group 2, Task Group 2: EN 15882-3 Extended Application results for penetration seals

We know all the inns and outs of the standards, are aware of the background information regarding many decisions that have been taken for the revision of the standard and well aware of the intention of the task group decisions. With this we can help you take decisions on your future testing program in order to offer you the widest field of application of test results with the least amount of testing.
We have extensive hands-on testing experience for penetration seals and linear joint seals, including from pipe closure devices for plastic pipes, modular systems for cables, board systems for mixed configurations and sealing systems for bus bars. With our testing experience we can help you to configure the most favorable setup for your test construction.

The Fire Firm can also provide a training course for the practical use of the current test standard for penetration seals, EN 1366-3, and the revision of this standard which is being finalised at the moment. In a 1 or 2 day course we can guide you through the possibilities and impossibilities of the standard, exemplified by a powerpoint presentation. To make it very practical for you we include a lot of exercises where you need to make use of the standard.

Test Program for Approval or Certification

As a manufacturer you are probably looking at expanding your product range of passive fire protection products, or maybe you just want to extend the field of application of your test results. In most cases additional testing will be required. We can help you with setting up your test program, based on the requirements in the European Union.
We will take a careful look at the by you desired field of application for your product (range) and the results of tests you might already have performed in the past. We will combine this in a test setup for one or more fire tests to be able to get you the results you need.

The Fire Firm does not possess its own laboratory but we can take care of the preparation and execution of your test program at one of many fire testing laboratories in the EU with which we maintain good relations. This can either be in The Netherlands or in one of the European member states, depending on your specific wishes.

We have testing experience with fire resistance tests in accordance with the following standards:

EN 1363-1 Fire resistance tests – General requirements
EN 1363-2 Fire resistance tests – Alternative and additional procedures
EN 1364-1 Fire resistance tests for non-load bearing elements – Walls
EN 1364-2 Fire resistance tests for non-load bearing elements – Ceilings
EN 1365-2 Fire resistance tests for load bearing elements – Floors and roofs
EN 1365-3 Fire resistance tests for load bearing elements – Beams
EN 1366-2 Fire resistance tests for service installations – Fire dampers
EN 1366-3 Fire resistance tests for service installations – Penetration seals
EN 1366-4 Fire resistance tests for service installations – Linear joint seals
EN 1366-12 Fire resistance tests for load bearing elements – Non-mechanical fire barrier for ventilation duct work
EN 1634-1 Fire resistance test for door and shutter assemblies and opening windows
NEN 6069 Resistance to fire – Testing of building products and building elements and classification of the results (for The Netherlands)
SIS 02 48 20 Fire resistance tests – Elements of building construction (for Sweden)

Assessment of Fire Safety of Building Elements / Constructions In Situ

In accordance with the applicable building regulations, building constructions or building element may have a need to fulfill requirements regarding fire resistance, for instance 30 or 60 minutes (on integrity E and/or insulation I, depending on local regulations). Your products might have the correct performance on paper, but does it correspond to how the product is applied in practice? Not all applications are straightforward and it might very well be possible that (some of these) applications do not correspond with the actual requirements.

How can be assessed if an application in practice actually fulfills these requirements? The starting point for this is a test report issued by an accredited fire testing institute and a classification report in accordance with EN 13501. With these reports as a basis, The Fire Firm can assess if applications in practice are covered by the field of application rules given in the test report and/or classification report. If this turns out not to be the case, we can advise you regarding possible changes to the application so the requirements can be met.

Assessment of Fire Resistance Test Results / Expert Judgement

A (successful) fire test will generally result in a test report that mentions the general conditions and field of application rules for the achieved test results. In addition to this an Extended Application report could have been issued to extend the field of application rules for the achieved test results, often based on more than one performed fire test. Ultimately all these results will, together with achieved fire resistance classification, be combined in a classification report which then can be used as approval document.

An assessment of these reports requires extensive knowledge and experience, especially when it involves composite products and multiple fire tests. The Fire Firm has years of experience with performing fire resistance tests and writing accompanying test reports. Consequently we can offer you our thorough and professional assistance with assessing these types of reports. Because applications in practice deviate from the field of application rules mentioned in the report, or because the fire test might have been performed according to a no longer valid standard, the expertise of a fire safety specialist (‘expert judgment’) from The Fire Firm can be a necessity.

Classification and Extended Application of Fire Resistance Test Results

The goal of most fire resistance testing is attaining a (European) approval and subsequently bringing the product to market in the EU. For this you will require a classification report in accordance with EN 13501. This classification report is a summary of one or more fire resistance test reports and concludes in a classification and a field of application.

In addition to results of the fire resistance tests, a classification can also contain results of an Extended Application of test results, if applicable European standards are available for this application. At the Fire Firm we have extensive experience with writing Extended Application reports.

We have experience writing Classification and EXAP reports in accordance with the following standards:

EN 13501-2 Classification using data from fire resistance tests, excluding ventilation services
EN 13501-3 Classification using data from fire resistance tests on fire resisting ducts and fire dampers
EN 15254-4 Extended application of results from fire resistance tests – Non-load bearing walls – Glazed constructions
EN 15254-5 Extended application of results from fire resistance tests – Non-load bearing walls – Metal sandwich panel construction
EN 15269-1 Extended application of test results for fire resistance and/or smoke control door, shutter and opening window assemblies
EN 15269-2 Extended application of test results for fire resistance and/or smoke control door, shutter and opening window assemblies, including their elements of building hardware – Fire resistance of hinged and pivoted steel door sets
EN 15269-3 Extended application of test results for fire resistance and/or smoke control door, shutter and opening window assemblies, including their elements of building hardware – Fire resistance of hinged and pivoted timber door sets and opening timber framed windows
EN 15269-5 Extended application of test results for fire resistance and/or smoke control door, shutter and opening window assemblies, including their elements of building hardware – Fire resistance of hinged and pivoted metal framed glazed door sets and opening windows
EN 15269-10 Extended application of test results for fire resistance and/or smoke control door, shutter and opening window assemblies, including their elements of building hardware – Fire resistance of steel rolling shutter assemblies
EN 15725 Extended application reports on the fire performance of construction products and building elements
EN 15882-2 Extended application of results from fire resistance tests for service installations – Fire Dampers
EN 15882-3 Extended application of results from fire resistance tests for service installations – Penetration seals
EN 15882-4 Extended application of results from fire resistance tests for service installations – Linear joint seals

Factory Production Control Audits

Building product that are put on the market in the EU are required to have a CE mark if they are covered by a Harmonised Technical Specification. One of the steps of obtaining such a CE mark is Factory Production Control inspections that will be performed by a Notified Certification Body. If the product is part of AVoCP (Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance) System 1+, System 1 or System 2+, this inspection audit will be repeated once a year (unless otherwise specified in the Harmonised Technical Specification).

At The Fire Firm we have experience with performing FPC audits. We can perform these audits on behalf of a Notified Certification Body for products that have fire resistance as essential characteristic.

Experts in fire safety

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