THE NEED FOR FIRE-SAFE INTERIORS IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS RESISTANT TO ACCIDENTAL OR ARSON-TYPE IGNITION

There are two recent significant fires that caused significant loss of life.

1. Grenfell Tower fire in the United Kingdom – June 14, 2017
2. Kyoto Animation fire in Japan – July 18, 2019

The Grenfell Tower fire appears to have been accidental ignition. The Kyoto Animation fire seems to have been caused by an arsonist.

There is a wealth of post-fire information that is available on the Grenfell Tower fire. As of the date of this bulletin, there is little information as to building content and the part it might have played in the rapidly destructive Kyoto Animation fire.

The Grenfell Tower fire was attributable to flammable exterior materials rather than building content, furnishings, and interior finish; however, the lessons learned from this fire should be instructive to all responsible parties who should be concerned with fire-safe interiors.

In the post analysis of the fire, the following questions come to mind:

• Did the exterior material (cladding) meet code requirements?
• If it met the code, was the code stringent enough to offer a sufficient degree of fire safety?
• If the code appeared to allow extremely flammable materials, was there any action on the part of responsible parties to offer improved fire-resistant materials?
• Did the cladding undergo actual fire testing? (In certain situations, computer modeling or desktop studies are used to qualify products.)
• If fire testing was conducted on the cladding, were the reports applicable to the actual cladding installed? (In many instances, reports are tendered which sometimes date back to a product’s earlier production run.)

While product formulations may be the same as earlier production runs, current testing is always prudent as the actual manufacturing process doesn’t guarantee that the currently produced products will actually be the same as earlier production runs.

The list can go on and on.

In Govspec’s opinion, all who are concerned with building interiors have the responsibility to see that fire-safe building contents, furnishings, and interior finish are installed in public buildings.

It should not be assumed that code and the AHJ are guarantees of fire safety. All those represented in the supply chain should bear this responsibility. This includes:

• Insurance Underwriters
• Code Writers
• Architectural and Design Firms
• Buyers and Specifiers
• Building Owners and Managers
• Manufacturers
• Suppliers
• Installers

In the United States, there are four national consensus codes that specify fire test requirements for products used in the interiors of public buildings:

• NFPA 101 Life Safety Code
• International Fire Code
• International Building Code
• NFPA 5000 Building Construction and Safety Code

Most local and state codes are usually based on the texts of the national consensus codes.

The exemplar Govspec guides that are part of this bulletin offer the code requirements as understood by Govspec and recommendations by Govspec that go beyond the code requirements.

• * Available from Govspec
• s = Sprinklered
• u = Unsprinklered

• * Available from Govspec
• s = Sprinklered
• u = Unsprinklered

EXEMPLAR FOOTNOTE

¹ Carpeting, Floor Coverings, Area Rugs, and Interior Floor Finish

Area Rugs

CFR 1630/1631 are federal standards which apply to all carpets and rugs. This includes area rugs and wall to wall carpeting. The reason for two standards is that CFR 1631 applies to small carpets and rugs such as bath mats and similar sized items. CFR 1630 applies to all carpets and rugs exceeding 24 ft.² or having any dimension longer than 6 ft.

Some of the codes might reference ASTM D2859 which is a voluntary industry version of the federal documents.

Interior Floor Finish

ASTM E648 and NFPA 253 bear the same title: “Standard Method of Test for Critical Radiant Flux of Floor Covering Systems Using a Radiant Heat Energy Source”.

The tests are essentially the same. The ASTM version is cited by the NFPA 101 Life Safety Code. The NFPA version is cited by the International Fire Code.

It’s possible that the local code official might insist upon a particular version.

Consideration should be given to Class I, even in sprinklered areas.

Introduction

Scattered throughout the national consensus building codes, there are various other fire tests that do pertain to building contents other than those listed for the various primary occupancies. Those concerned with fire safety should consider these supplemental tests irrespective of the occupancy, where appropriate.

Govspec would like to reiterate that this is not to be considered a legal document. Its intent is to alert the reader to the availability of the tests, the performance levels that are listed throughout the codes, and Govspec recommendations.

• * See Disclaimer
• ** Available from Govspec

• * See Disclaimer
• ** Available from Govspec

• * See Disclaimer
• ** Available from Govspec

The information contained in the test procedure and requirements columns is a combination of the national consensus requirements and Govspec recommendations.

In many instances, the codes’ requirements are less restrictive if the area is sprinklered.

Govspec offers a more conservative approach and recommends a higher level of testing even if the area is sprinklered.

Rationale is offered in the footnotes for those particular items.

In some instances, Govspec recommends tests that beyond the code specified tests. Again, the rationale is offered in the footnotes.

In the event of legal claims resulting from fire damage or loss of life, the code requirement could be challenged.

While Govspec has prepared this document with a high level of diligence, Govspec does not certify the information as to its accuracy.

The information contained herein is meant to alert the reader to those code requirements and test standards (procedures) that exist for establishing a level of fire safety.

The reader is always referred to the actual documents herein to make his own determination. (This includes the code definition/s of the cited occupancy and product category.)

The items listed herein are not all-inclusive. Items other than those listed herein are regulated by the codes.

In addition, local codes might be more restrictive than the national consensus codes. Again, the reader is referred to the actual codes to make his own determination.

The reader is instructed not to attach any legal significance to the information contained herein.