Standards Development

Scope

This technical specification provides guidance on the calculation of the fire resistance performance of asymmetrical partitions and/or vertical membranes using existing fire test evidence. The fire resistance performance of asymmetrical partitions and /or vertical membranes is established on the basis of existing fire test evidence for asymmetrical partitions and /or vertical membranes to ISO 834-1 The asymmetric partitions are constructions that comprise of one, two, three or four layers of gypsum plaster boards which are installed against C-profile steel studs.

The principles of the calculation methodology can be applied to other types of board materials used in partition systems and to other heating regimes.

Purpose

Manufacturers of lightweight partition systems are required to undergo a comprehensive set of fire resistance tests to place their products onto the market to satisfy National regulatory requirements on fire safety in buildings. This involves testing a wide range of variables (thermal and geometrical) to optimize the design often in an ad-hoc process without quantification. The proposed technical report enables the impact of some of the variables (thickness variations, number of boards, thermal and physical behaviour) to be calculated based upon a limited number of tests. This will reduce the development costs in bringing this type of product to market.