The façade of a building determines the likelihood of fire starting from the outside, and can also prevent fire from spreading to other buildings. Materials used as facade cladding must therefore meet strict fire safety requirements. As Trespa® sheets are often used as exterior cladding, we would like to tell you all you need to know about the fire safety of this material.
Fire safety regulations
The exact fire safety regulations for plastic panels, such as Trespa®, depend on the application of the product. In the case of facade cladding, the requirements depend on the location of the building and its distance from other buildings. A distinction is also made between the different uses of buildings, such as residential, industrial, healthcare or educational. Some important functions that cladding must fulfil in any case are:
- Preventing the building from being ignited from the outside
- Delaying the fire from spreading
- Limiting the development of smoke
Fire behaviour of Trespa® sheets
Trespa® sheets are not non combustible, but do comply with all European fire safety regulations. They have a B1 classification, which means the material is flame retardant and reduces the spread of fire. The exact fire resistance, how long the sheets resist fire, varies per variant. However, the fire behaviour of the sheets is predictable:
Whichever Trespa® sheet you choose, all variants comply with European fire safety regulations. If their application requires the sheets to be extra fire retardant, choose sheets with the suffix FR (fire retardant) after their name. A fire retardant has been added to the resin in these sheets, making them even more fire resistant.
If you would like more information about the fire behaviour of Trespa® sheets or other properties of this panel material? Feel free to contact us, we will be happy to inform and advise you. You can, of course, also order your sheets directly online in our webshop.