4 . THIRD PARTY TESTING AGENCIES
There are several independent testing laboratories , also referred to as third party testing agencies , which perform fire testing of firestop manufacturer products in accordance with a specific fire test standard . After successful completion of the fire tests , the agencies generate details of the tested firestop systems . These details are usually included as design listings in the fire resistance directories made available by the testing laboratory . These directories are an important source of information during the plan review process and inspection process .
The following are some of the recognized independent laboratories conducting tests of firestop systems :
1 . Underwriters Laboratories Inc . ( UL ), Northbrook , IL ( 847 ) 272-8800 , www . ul . com
2 . Southwest Research Institute San Antonio , TX ( 210 ) 522-2311 , www . fire . swri . org
3 . Factory Mutual Norwood , MA ( 781 ) 762-4300 , www . fmglobal . com 4 . Intertek Testing Services , San Antonio , TX ( 210 ) 625-8100 , www . intertek . com
5 . ICC NTA , Nappanee , IN ( 574 ) 773-7975 , www . icc-nta . org
4.1 Identification guide ( UL )
To identify the most relevant or closest UL firestop system that meets a project ' s unique site requirement , one should be aware of the different nomenclatures UL follows to categorize its various documents .
For each category / type of firestop system , UL has a separate UL Category Control Number
• XHEZ ( Through-penetration firestop systems )
• XHBN ( Joint systems )
• XHHW ( Fill , void , or cavity materials )
• XHDG ( Perimeter fire containment systems )
• CLIV ( Wall opening protective materials )
To further narrow down the search within the category control number , UL uses the following nomenclature rules .
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