Last modified: February 01, 2016

REAL LIFE FIRE TESTING vs. ACCREDITED FIRE TESTING

Magnesiacore Inc. prides itself on understanding the customers' needs when it comes to building materials that provides good quality and proper functions. The building industry in general relies mostly on certified testing agencies that perform theoretical analysis by separate testing to try to mimic real life situations to indicate a materials potential performance. Magnesiacore does that too, but in addition we also provide you with the clear and plain language results available only from real world, real life, examples like no one else truly can.

REAL LIFE FIRE TESTING

A real life material performance comparison was performed in a North America Municipality in the fall of the year 2010. The following is a documentation in pictures with captions highlighting the event:

Some 250 Public Officials from various authorities attended from all ranks of Fire Fighting, Emergency Responders, Policing, Forensics and other professionals in the relevant field with interest. The location was an actual motel room which was constructed in the typical manner most are and was fully furnished with normal materials, furniture and fixtures. The purpose was to create a real life situation rather than relying only on engineered theoretical testing.

On the ceiling several different conventional building materials are applied such as cement board, drywall, paneling and also magnesiacore clearly shown as representatives samples of conventional materials and magnesiacore as the alternative.

     
An officer threw a typical real incendiary device (a Molotov Cocktail) in from the window initiating a real fire inside the room. The fire was allowed to burn freely and naturally for the normal amount of time that allows for firefighters and alarms to respond.

After allowing the average burn time before crews normally arrive on a scene, with temperatures inside the room reaching over 1800 degrees C; the firefighters apply the conventional means and methods for extinguishing the blaze. The picture shows fire hoses spraying the room with water in the typical fashion.

After the fire ... everything inside was incinerated and no building board materials on the ceiling survived except the magnesiacore. In fact the magnesiacore.com logo is still clearly visible after the fire as if it was not even ever in a fire and after the interior of the room was sprayed with high pressure fire-hoses by firefighters with heavy equipment.

All of the accredited testing listed below, which is often passed by many other materials, does not hold a candle to the real life results documented by a real fire which shows the difference between magnesiacore and the conventional construction materials.

ACCREDITED FIRE TESTING

 Fire Rating Classifications per International Standards & Tests
(class A1 is the highest rating for building materials)

European Standards UNI EN ISO 1182 (non-combustible) - Euroclass A1
European Standards UNI EN ISO 1716 (heat resistance) - Euroclass A1
European Standards UNI EN ISO 13501-1 (smoke and flame) - Euroclass A1
European Standards UNI EN ISO (flooring material) - Euroclass A1FL

United States & Canada US ASTM E136 - non-combustible
British Standard 476: Part 4 : 1970 - non-combustible

United States and Canada Surface Burning Characteristics
CAN/ULC-S102 and US ASTM E 84
(Flame Spread Classification "FSC" = 0 / Smoke Developed "SD" = 0)
Flame Spread and Smoke Development Rating is Class 1 or Class A

British Standard 476: Part 7 : 1997, Class 1 for Surface Spread of Flame

ONE HOUR FIRE RATED ASSEMBLY TEST:
Passed tests for one hour fire rated wall assembly
using 12mm (1/2") Magnesiacore thickness
(After one hour only the joint compound is breaking down)

0-min	55-min	70-min	80-min	95-min

NOTE: Separate certification of each fire rated assembly is required in most jurisdictions to comply with local building codes. Fire Rated certification is not currently available for most assemblies and countries. Based on past tests conducted fire rated certification is achievable to higher levels than common fire code / rated materials. Please contact us for more information.

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