FIRE SAFETY & SECURITY
SAFE IN THE KNOWLEDGE
Effective performance is everything when it comes to fire safety products . However , without knowing it , many of us could be making compromises when it comes to our choice of fire foams and fire rated sealants .
As a company that manufactures sealants , adhesives and other building chemicals , you might expect us to advocate increased awareness when it comes to choosing fire foams . But self-gain never has , and never will , be Bond It ’ s main motivation for urging greater consideration when it comes to these products .
Instead we believe the building industry in the UK is affected by a serious issue with equally serious , and potentially life-threatening , implications .
With lives at stake , and against a backdrop where we are all increasingly accountable for our work and where they have been a number of high profile examples of poor building practices contributing to the spread of fire , we see it as our responsibility to share our knowledge .
The problem stems from the existence of too many different but similar sounding classification systems . This has created a degree of confusion which has left many in the sector at risk of inadvertently using fire foams with levels of performance that fall woefully short of the mark .
NOT ALL FIRE FOAMS ARE CREATED EQUAL
Years ago specifying a fire foam was a lot simpler and arguably safer than it is today . You had the choice of either a standard foam or a fire foam with both types available in either a gun or handheld form .
To benefit from its classification , fire foam had to comply with BS476 part 20 . This meant it would act as a barrier to fire for 4 hours giving a building ’ s occupants vital time to escape .
Then , with an influx of European foams into the UK came a proliferation of different standards . The most widespread was a German standard based on a sliding scale . This ranged from A1 ( 100 % non-combustible ) through to A2 , B1 , B2 and B3 with the latter offering the worst levels of performance .
If the introduction of a whole new standard system and a large number of differing classifications didn ’ t serve to create enough confusion , the way of assessing the UK and European standards was also totally different .
The UK standard meant a fire foam had to act as a barrier to prevent fire transferring from one room to another for a period of four hours . The German standard meanwhile was based on someone trying to ignite the foam itself - not a very realistic scenario .
SAVINGS - BUT AT WHAT COST ? One of the most widely seen classifications people now find on fire foams is B2 and it ’ s not hard to understand why . B2 strikes a fine balance between offering some fire resistance and at a cost that won ’ t hurt budgets – or margins .
However , in our opinion , B2 ‘ fire ’ foam ’ s performance is totally inadequate and we don ’ t think it should be sold as fire foam at all . Yes , there are savings and profits to be made , but at the end of the day , what price do you put on property or even more poignantly , on someone ’ s life ? As we near the 4th anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire , we are hoping lessons have been learnt .
Like most of our competitors , we react to market demand and do supply a B2 PU foam as part of our range . However , we are strict about this not being referred to as a “ fire ” foam and it is not marketing under this guise at all . We clearly state what the products performance characteristics are and what it is tested to .
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