Latest News
ABI'S CLARIFICATION OF ''NON-COMBUSTIBLE BUILDING''
13 June 2008
Euroclad Ltd, the UK’s leading manufacturer of metal roofing and cladding systems, has welcomed the decision by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to clarify a paragraph in its sandwich panel guidance document that was being used to justify a potentially misleading claim that a construction using certain cladding products could be regarded as a “non-combustible building”.
The Technical Briefing document - Fire Performance of Sandwich Panel Systems – was produced specifically with the needs of insurance surveyors and under-writers in mind. However, a reference to the LPS 1181 fire standard in paragraph 4.4 of the document has been used out of context by some manufacturers to imply that plastic PIR foam products are non-combustible. The ABI are redrafting and revising the guidance to remove any misunderstanding.
Welcoming the announcement, Phil Cook, Managing Director at Euroclad said; “We congratulate the ABI on addressing this important issue.
“As a manufacturer of non-combustible systems, we appreciate that public safety cannot be understated. The true fire performance of products must be made clear and guidance must not be open to misinterpretation. The accurate identification of combustible and non-combustible materials is essential for fire risk assessment and the elimination of fire hazards. However, there is a lot of misinformation available as well as a lack of clear advice regarding statutory fire regulations. Anything which helps to clarify these important issues is welcome. Absolute clarity is the very minimum requirement where public safety is concerned.”
Euroclad manufactures and supplies a range of steel and aluminium cladding systems which use non-combustible cores and provide exceptional performance acoustically and thermally for the life of the building.
