Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Over the last year Kingspan have been invited to make detailed presentations at a range of high profile events in the UK and Ireland. These have included:
3rd National Construction Conference, Dublin, Royal Institute of Architects Scotland, Institute of Engineers of Ireland, UK Institute of Insurance, presentation to Chief Fire Officers of Ireland, major in-house insurer / broker seminars along with a large number of presentations to individual companies including architects, specifiers, contractors, developers, property investors, property agents and building owners.
The question and answer sessions associated with these presentations invariably generate a valuable discussion. This section attempts to answer the most frequently asked questions.
Q. What is the difference between polyurethane (PUR), polyisocyanurate (PIR) and certified polyisocyanurate (PIR)?
A. These materials all belong to the same generic family of thermosetting materials. PIR has a special polymer structure which gives improved fire performance compared to PUR. PIR has various levels of fire performance linked to the specific formulation used.
Certified PIR uses a unique formulation that gives a highly fire resistant product which is capable of passing insurance industry tests. Companies such as LPCB and FM Global have precise details of approved formulations and regularly audit manufacturers facilities to confirm compliance.
Q. How do I identify the panels on my building?
A. This can be problematic on existing buildings. The first thing to do is to check if there are any building records, eg, drawings to see whether the panel system is specified. In the absence of records an attempt should be made to uncover some panel core material. Great care should be taken to ensure that there are no possible sources of ignition.
Mineral fibre and polystyrene are relatively easy to identify provided access to the core is available. It is not possible to visually tell the difference between PUR and PIR.
If the core is believed to be PUR or PIR Kingspan should be contacted and given as much information as possible to facilitate identification.
In buildings clad from the middle of 2002 it is easy to identify Kingspan panels from the UV ink markings on the lining (internal) side. UV torches are available free of charge from Kingspan.
Q. How can I minimise or challenge insurance premium increases?
A. In the current insurance market environment insurers are looking very closely at every risk. In relation to building insurance it is therefore vital to provide the insurer with detailed, comprehensive and accurate information about construction, occupancy and management of the building. If the building is being surveyed give the insurance surveyor as much assistance as possible. If there is insufficient information in the survey – for example about the panel core - the underwriter will always assume the worst.
Kingspan Fire Engineering Department can help in providing specification details, certification where appropriate.
Q. In ‘real’ buildings the panel core is always exposed due to poor maintenance etc. Is this a fire risk?
A. It is always good practice to inspect and repair damaged panel systems. Having said that the reality is that PUR and PIR cores are very difficult to ignite – in the case of a certified PIR core a high intensity propane torch cannot ignite the unprotected insulation core. This is in stark contrast to polystyrene where a very small fire source can ignite the material. This is then compounded by the tendency of polystyrene to shrink and melt leading to the formation of a cavity between the metal skins that can allow hidden fire spread. This phenomenon does not occur with PUR and PIR.
Q. Do PUR and PIR panels produce toxic smoke in a fire?
A. Every type of panel system has an organic content that is affected by fire. In the case of PUR, PIR and mineral fibre panels the major products of combustion are carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide because all contain organic components.
The most important point to recognise is that the in the case of fires in buildings clad in PUR, PIR and mineral fibre panels the vast majority of smoke and toxic gas is generated by the burning contents of the building. The panels are not significantly affected until the fire is fully developed and the mass of material present in the panels can be very small compared to the burning mass in the building. Concerns about toxic gas and smoke emissions from the panels must be put into context compared to toxic gas emissions from all other burning elements within the building.
Q. There seems to be a lot of confusion about the fire performance of composite panels. How can this be addressed?
A. The current building insurance market has been characterised by general confusion resulting from conflicting information, misinformation, misreporting and myths. This document is aimed at clarifying these issues.
Q. I have a building clad in PUR panels – do I need to replace them?
A. There are no circumstances where replacement of PUR cladding is justified. Historical insurance industry fire loss data, coupled with real fire case study information proves that PUR panels do not constitute an enhanced risk. The recommended approach is to perform a holistic fire risk assessment to quantify the whole risk. This may indicate potential risk improvements but we are not aware of any circumstances where removal of PUR cladding is justified. Contact Kingspan Fire Engineering Department for further information.
Q. The composite panel issue is high profile in the UK and Ireland - what about the rest of Europe?
A. Composite panels are not an insurance issue in the rest of Europe. PUR continues to be the standard core in countries where large volumes of panels are used such as Germany Holland, Belgium, France and Italy. Factors to explain this situation include the fact that polystyrene is rarely used in food processing factories in Europe – PUR is the standard core – as a result there have been very few fires.
Q. What is the Association of British Insurers (ABI) doing?
A. ABI has taken the situation very seriously and is planning to publish a Technical Bulletin on the subject. This document is expected to give independent, authoritative information to address many of the key issues. A definite publication date is yet to be announced but is expected to be in Spring 2003.
Copies will be available direct from ABI or through Kingspan Fire Engineering Services Department.
Q. What advice is being given by the Building Research Establishment (BRE)?
A. BRE has been very active over the years in managing fire test programmes and giving advice to insurers about the fire performance of composite panels. An article by BRE was recently published in the December 2002 edition of Fire Prevention & Fire Engineers Journal. The article gives an excellent summary of historical insurer losses and gives advice on dealing with new build and existing buildings.
Copies of this article are available from the publisher (FPA), the BRE and Kingspan Fire Engineering Services Department.
Q. Your competitors have shown me a video of polyurethane in what appears to be a small room test. Flames were coming out of the door within seconds.
A. The rapid fire development is called flashover. We are aware of certain videos and demonstrations purporting to show the performance of polyurethane panels. We have even come across paper faced polyurethane boards being used to show polyurethane in a bad light. This type of false representation is unacceptable and should be challenged. It is interesting to note that tests on paper faced glass fibre produced flashover when tested as part of the Euroclassification system development.
The fact is that these so called demonstrations never give enough information about the true nature of the product and how it is fixed. If you see a small brick room be suspicious – this is probably the ISO 9705 enclosure. It is generally accepted by fire experts that it is impossible to perform a realistic test on any externally fixed cladding system using this test. This is because the panels cannot be installed correctly. Work is now being performed by BRE to assess ISO 13784 intermediate scale room test as an appropriate way of assessing cladding systems. This method allows panels to be tested in a realistic installation configuration. The BRE report is awaited but results on polyurethane panels do not show flashover. Results on PIR panels are believed to be exceptionally good.
Q. As an architect how can I ensure that LPCB approved systems are installed correctly.
A. Contractual documents must make reference to compliance with the appropriate specification – model specifications and help in specification development are available from Kingspan Technical Design Bureau. In order to ensure that the panels are installed correctly on site Kingspan can provide a list of approved roofing & cladding contractors and can provide training and on site support for all contractors. Kingspan can provide site inspections at various stages during construction and be followed up with a final certificate of compliance after completion.
Q. What is the difference between reaction to fire and fire resistance?
A. Reaction to fire assesses how a specific material or composite product reacts when exposed to heat which can be in the form of direct flame impingement, radiant heat or high temperatures. Typical parameters normally measured include ignitability, flame spread and rate of heat release. In the UK and Ireland reaction to fire is assessed by several parts of BS 476 including Parts 4,6,7,& 11. Over the next few years these tests are being replaced by the Euroclassification system. All these tests are relatively small scale and do not allow insulated panels to be tested in realistic as-installed configurations. A much more relevant reaction to fire test is the LPCB test LPS 1181. This is a large scale test which tests the panels in a realistic situation.The advantage of LPS 1181 is that the grading system covers both reaction to fire and resistance to fire, Resistance to fire is a measure of the passage of heat and flame through the thickness of a material and the test structure comprises a panel system fixed to a furnace. In the UK and Ireland BS 476 Part 22 is used to assess fire resistance. This test will be eventually replaced by European test EN 1364. In the context of cladding systems the insulation rating is the time taken for the non-furnace face to increase in temperature to approximately 200°C. Integrity failure is when flames break through the joint detail.
Both reaction and resistance to fire play a key role in Building Regulations and Insurer Approved tests.
The Kingspan range of insurer approved panels includes systems that have excellent performance in reaction to fire. Systems are also available that demonstrate high levels of fire resistance - up to 1 hour insulation/integration (FR60).
If you require a presentation to your organisation of the issues covered in this document, please do not hesitate to contact Kingspan Fire Engineering Services Department.
Kingspan 
Solutions Service
Kingspan Fire Engineering Services Department provides a best practice, project specific
solutions service. If you have any questions or require specific information please do not hesitate to contact us on-
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Email: fireinfo@kingspanpanels.com