Are self-drilling fasteners fire resistant?
- Read time: 3 minutes
- Date: 11 Oct 2021
- Flat Roofing
- Rainscreen & Façades
- Sheeting & Cladding
There are two fire performance measures that relate to building products, fire resistance and reaction to fire. Both tests assess how a material, product or system reacts in a fire in slightly different ways.
Fire resistance measures the period of time (i.e. 30 minutes) that a material or system can resist a specified fire load while maintaining its form and function. Products and systems used to provide fire resistance prevent the passage of fire from one distinct area of a building (known as a compartment) to another.
It helps keep everyone safe by giving building occupants enough time to escape and allowing fire services to access the building to fight the fire.
In many buildings, there is a requirement for products used in escape routes to be fire resistant. These products may include:
doors
screens
partitions
ceilings
Rainscreen panels
Insulation
other components
Reaction to fire measures whether a product or material is combustible by assessing whether it contributes to the development or spread of fire. It also determines whether the product or material produces smoke or flaming droplets. There are seven Euroclass reaction to fire classifications which range from A1 (the highest) to F (the lowest). A1 and A2 are considered non-combustible.
Building regulations ban the use of combustible materials in some applications on certain buildings.
Are building envelope fasteners tested for fire resistance?
It is worth noting that most fasteners, including Fixfast self-drilling fasteners, are manufactured from steel (either carbon or stainless). Steel melts at around 1370°C, which means that they will not lose their structural integrity at the temperatures required for fire testing.
Building envelope fasteners are generally not subjected to specific fire testing in isolation but are included as components within large scale system testing (e.g. BS 8414).
Are building envelope fasteners non-combustible?
As well as having a very high melting point, steel does not combust, which means that it will not contribute to the spread of fire. As a result, our European technical assessment (ETA) states that Fixfast self-drilling fasteners are considered to satisfy the requirements of class A1 with regards to classification for reaction to fire.
Always check with your fastener manufacturer to confirm the fire safety of their products.
