FM Approvals has introduced Approval Standard FM 4540, Examination Standard for ASTM E119, ASTM E1529, EN 1364 and EN 1365 Rated Assemblies. The new standard allows manufacturers, including those producing FM Approved wall panels, to also earn the FM Approved certification for fire resistant assemblies using a choice of ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) or EN (European Norm) criteria.
Most commercial, industrial and many multi-unit residential structures are required to be built with walls, floors and ceilings that provide time for occupants to escape in the event of a fire. This form of passive fire protection (PFP) may also provide protection against external fire impingement from nearby structures, vehicles, wildfires and arson. Fire resistant assemblies—which include Firewalls, Fire Barrier Walls and Fire Partitions—not only provide sufficient time for escape, but also help reduce overall property damage, limit business downtime and help ensure structural stability.
In North America, this fire resistant construction in most cases must meet the requirements of ASTM E119 and in the European Union and many other part of the world, EN 1364 or EN 1365. For instance, the International Building Code (IBC) Section 703.2.1 states, “Tested assemblies. A fire-resistance rating of building elements, components or assemblies shall be determined by the test procedures set forth in ASTM E119…".
An end to Specification Tested
Until now, FM Approvals has provided fire-resistance ratings (per the requirements of ASTM E119, Standard Test Methods for Fire Tests of Building Construction and Materials) as an optional specification test for customers engaged in FM Approvals programs for related products, such as insulated wall panels under FM 4880 or FM 4882, for example.
"Over the years, we have been converting specification tested product categories to full Approval standards," notes vice president and materials group manager Phil Smith. "For instance, in 2021 we introduced Approval Standard FM 3972, offering the FM Approvals certification for cables. This was previously a specification tested product category."
One customer who is already looking forward to the new FM Approved rating for fire resistance is Kingspan Group. Based in Ireland, the company is a major producer of high-performance insulation and building envelope solutions for the construction market.
"FM Approvals is unique among certification agencies in that their full program includes ongoing surveillance, test sample witnessing, full test programs and listings,," notes Damien Mc Ardle, product performance compliance manager for Kingspan Group. "When a firm sends their sample to a test lab for fire resistance testing under ASTM or EN standards, the test labs typically don't really know what is in that sample. It's a snapshot in time."
The new standard
The new FM 4540 standard details testing and certification requirements for ASTM E119 and ASTM E1529 structural members and fire resistance rated assemblies, and for EN 1364 (non-load bearing) and EN 1365 (load bearing) fire resistance rated elements.
The ASTM E119 test is used to determine the fire-resistance rating of construction assemblies by exposing complete assemblies of walls, floors, columns, beams, and roofs to a prescribed time-temperature curve. The test assembly is mounted to a test furnace vertically or horizontally, depending on its application and exposed to the fire exposure to determine an applicable fire resistance rating, such as one, two, four hours, etc. ASTM E119 may also require a hose-stream test in which a second complete assembly is fire tested in the same way, but for half the time and then exposed to a hose stream.
ASTM E1529 is intended to determine the fire-test response of columns girders, beams or similar structural members, and fire-containment walls that are employed in hydrocarbon process industry (HPI) facilities or other facilities subject to large hydrocarbon pool fires. The temperature of the test apparatus must reach 1500oF (815oC) within the first 3 minutes and reach and stay between 1850oF (1010oC) and 2150oF (1180oC) at all times after the first 5 minutes of the test.
EN standards, included as options within FM 4540, include EN 1364, Fire Resistance Tests for Non-Load Bearing Elements, and EN 1365, Fire Resistance Tests for Load Bearing Elements. Similar to ASTM E119, both EN 1364 and EN 1365 are intended to evaluate the duration for which the tested building materials contain a fire and/or retain their relevant performance during a predetermined test exposure-standard or specialized (e.g., hydrocarbon pool fire).
EN 1364 (Part 1: Walls) is used to measure the fire-resistance ability of representative non-load bearing walls, both with and without glazing, for internal and external construction. This does not include curtain walls and walls with door sets.
EN 1365 (Part 1: Walls) measures the ability of a load bearing wall to resist fire spread from one side to the other while maintaining its load bearing capacity. This test is applicable to internal and external walls.
Save time with one stop
"By introducing a new standard (FM 4540) that encompasses multiple fire-resistance standards, we are helping manufacturers save time and costs, in many cases, by allowing them to bundle multiple certifications into a single FM Approvals program," says FM Approvals chief executive officer Rich Ferron. "A manufacturer can come in, for instance, with their interior wall panel to certify under FM 4880 and, at the same time, get an ASTM E119 hourly fire-resistance rating under the new Approval Standard FM 4540 as well."
Kingspan's Mc Ardle notes, "What's currently on the market when it comes to this type of testing are only parts of what FM Approvals provides with its certification programs. Finally, we will have a fire rating program that offers the whole picture. We believe this raises the bar for the entire market and the customer is the biggest benefactor."