Passive Fire Protection
One of the most successful materials in fireproofing in Europe is calcium silicate. Where North Americans use spray fireproofing plasters, Europeans are more likely to use cladding made of calcium silicate. High performance calcium silicate boards retain their excellent dimensional stability even in damp and humid conditions and can be installed at an early stage in the construction programme, before wet trades are completed and the building is weather-tight. For sub-standard products, silicone treated sheets are available to fabricators to mitigate potential harm from high humidity or general presence of water. Fabricators and installers of calcium silicate in passive fire protection often also install firestops.
While the best possible Reaction to Fire Classifications are A1 (construction applications) and A1Fl (flooring applications) respectively, both of which mean "non-combustible" according to EN 13501-1: 2007, as classified by a notified laboratory in Europe, some calcium silicate boards only come with Fire Classification of A2 (limited combustibility) or even lower classifications (or no classification), if they are tested at all.
Read more about this topic: Calcium Silicate
Famous quotes containing the words passive, fire and/or protection:
“To make oneself an object, to make oneself passive, is a very different thing from being a passive object.”
—Simone De Beauvoir (1908–1986)
“The tender skin does not shrink from bayonets, the timid woman is not scared by fagots; the rack is not frightful, nor the rope ignominious. The poor Puritan, Antony Parsons, at the stake, tied straw on his head when the fire approached him, and said, “This is God’s hat.””
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“As Jerome expanded, its chances for the title, “the toughest little town in the West,” increased and when it was incorporated in 1899 the citizens were able to support the claim by pointing to the number of thick stone shutters on the fronts of all saloons, gambling halls, and other places of business for protection against gunfire.”
—Administration in the State of Ariz, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)