The debate surrounding the fire performance of some metal roof and cladding products has recently been re-visited due to a number of high profile industrial building fires within the last few years. The topic of the debate however, is not a new one to those involved in the construction industry.

Many building designers, specifiers and building owners believe their buildings to be fully protected from the risks of fire. However, this is not always the case. System manufactures often present products and systems as complying with fire safety regulations by achieving the relevant certification.

Responsible building designers and specifiers need to satisfy themselves of the basis upon which certification has been granted. If the roof or cladding envelope of a building is penetrated by services, ducting etc – and they almost invariably are – then this can render the certification for many systems null and void.

Fire damage to a distribution warehouse in Thurrock

At CA Building Products we approach the fire debate in a very simple way – we test our products to the most demanding standards, we prove their integrity and finally, we achieve certification through only the most reputable organisations, such as the Loss Prevention Certification Board and Warrington Fire.

CA Building Products roof and wall cladding systems are manufactured from benign components which produces no toxic or noxious gases and are proven to not collapse or fuel flame, which is helpful to both fire-fighters and evacuees as it provides a substantial period of time to help bring the fire under control and to evacuate the building safely.

CA Building Products roof and wall cladding systems are logically safe, healthy and environmentally friendly, which are economical in comparison with many other systems and provide a beneficial and practical solution to specifiers where fire and its consequences are a serious issue in building design.

To find out more about our deicated FireWalls, click here.

CA's new FireWall system after successful testing at Warrington Fire. The system achieves 240 minutes integrity and 30 minutes insulation.

When a 3 year old distribution centre in Thurrock was unlucky enough to catch fire the building owner expected to find the building completely destroyed. That however was not the case. The building elevation which had been designed and installed with the Twin-Therm^® built up system from CA Building Products was in fact still standing and showing very little sign of fire damage.

It was the extensive fire damage to the remainder of the building - clad in foam filled insulated panels - that led to the building being classified as a total loss.

The foam panels that were installed to the gable end and roof of the building were completely destroyed and suffered extensively from delamination as can be seen in the images to the right.

Although the foam panels were destroyed, the Twin-Therm^® elevation was unaffected from the fire and the heat was not transferred through to Twin-Therm^® wall as the information signage on the outside of the building still remains undamaged (see second image to the right).

The adjacent building also suffered damaged and delaminating of foam panels, due to radiation of heat; however the Twin-Therm^® system installed below was unaffected. The building owner found it necessary to only replace the foam panels on the elevation, but not Twin-Therm^® system.

The building designer and specifier had ensured that only LPCB LPS 1181 ‘approved’ systems were installed on the building, to protect against the event of a fire.

So what went wrong?

Just specifying LPCB LPS 1181 is not enough to protect against the risk of fire, many systems that have achieved the certification, but some may find it null and void if their system is penetrated by services such as ducting, which will almost invariably happen on any building.

By specifying the Twin-Therm^® built up roof and wall cladding system the building owner and designer can rest assured that the system will performed as the LPCB LPS 1181 test indicated, as it did at Thurrock.

Gable End foam panels destroyed.

The heat from the fire at Thurrock was not transferred through the Twin-Therm^® wall, as the signage attached to the outside of the building remains intact.