3. Fire resistance tests

3.1 General principles

Where reaction to fire is concerned with a material or combination of materials to assess its contribution to fire, resistance to fire aims to assess the behavior of a complete construction element or product with regard to a developed fire, e.g. a partition, a wall, a beam, etc. The purpose of resistance to fire is to assess the behavior of a complete construction element or product with regard to a developed fire.

The sample to be tested is therefore often produced on a scale close to actual scale. Generally, fire resistance tests are carried out using a furnace or fire chamber capable of accommodating the elements to be tested. The thermal aggression applied to the elements during testing generally corresponds to a standardized fire...