Corus publishes technical paper focused on minimising fire risk
16 Dec 2008
Corus has today announced the publication of a groundbreaking technical paper - ‘Fire Performance of pre-finished Steel Cladding Systems’ – taking an in-depth look at present requirements for fire safety, and providing building designers with guidance on the legislative and insurance requirements that need to be considered when it comes to addressing fire performance.
The performance of a building in a potential fire situation is one of the primary considerations that needs to be taken on board right from the initial design stages. Taking compliance with building regulations and insurance requirements as the two major considerations that need to be addressed, Corus’ technical paper specifically focuses on the building envelope and how to satisfy these requirements when using pre-finished steel cladding systems.
Ian Clarke, Applications Development Manager comments: “The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance on fire safety requirements for a building to minimise risk to occupants in the event of a fire breaking out. Pre-finished steel cladding systems can be tailored to meet building regulations and insurance requirements. The actual requirements will be building location and application specific. Whilst the choice of building envelope materials is of key importance, it should be regarded as part of an overall strategy of compliance and risk management – especially in terms of fire safety. All Colorcoat® products, which have been through rigorous fire testing, meet fire regulations to Class ‘O’ which is a national level of fire safety requirements.”
As well as an assessment of current regulations in England and Wales, included in the technical paper is an overview of the main UK insurance requirements plus guidance on what to specify in terms of pre-finished steel, insulation and cladding system together with information about the main UK, European and insurance fire tests used to ensure compliance.
Clarke continues: “Corus has a long history of product development and assessment of pre-finished steel performance in fire and is able to provide data to National and European test standards. Over the past 40 years, we have developed close strategic relationships with some of the leading roof and wall cladding system manufacturers. This has enabled us to work closely with leading suppliers including CA Group, Corus Panels and Profiles, Euroclad and Tegral Metal Forming to ensure the resulting guidance set out represents industry best practice.”
Copies of the Colorcoat® Technical Paper: Fire performance of pre-finished steel cladding systems are available to download here
