🔥 Fire reaction of construction materials

Construction PN-EN 13501-1

Overview

STATUS (as of 06.11.2026). PN-EN 13501-1:2019-02 — Polish version, published on 31.10.2024, implements EN 13501-1:2018 [IDT]; it replaced PN-EN 13501-1+A1:2010 (Polish version). The PKN card has no withdrawal note — the standard is current. According to the card of the standard in the iTeh catalogue, it covers all construction products, including those incorporated within building elements, except power, control and communication cables, which are classified by EN 13501-6; products are considered in relation to their end use application.

WHAT THIS STANDARD IS. EN 13501-1 does not describe a single test but the way a product is assigned to a class on the basis of the results of several tests. The classes and criteria are also laid down in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/364 (Annex, Tables 1–4: construction products, floorings, linear pipe thermal insulation and cables). Below — Table 1 for construction products excluding floorings, pipe insulation and cables.

TESTS. Non-combustibility — EN ISO 1182: test of homogeneous products and substantial components of non-homogeneous products in a furnace at approximately 750 °C; the temperature rise ΔT, mass loss Δm and duration of sustained flaming tf are measured (sustained flaming — lasting 5 s or longer). Heat of combustion — EN ISO 1716: a specimen of specified mass is burned at constant volume in an atmosphere of oxygen in a bomb calorimeter calibrated with benzoic acid, and the gross heat of combustion PCS is determined. Single burning item (SBI) — EN 13823: the product in a corner configuration of two wings (backing boards of the long wing (1000 ± 5) mm × (1500 ± 5) mm) exposed to a burner in the corner; the measurements give e.g. FIGRA, THR600s, LFS, SMOGRA and TSP600s. Small-flame ignitability — EN ISO 11925-2: a vertical specimen 250 mm × 90 mm, a flame 20 mm high applied to the surface or edge for 15 s or 30 s; the flame spread Fs is measured, and ignition of the filter paper beneath the specimen indicates flaming droplets.

CLASS CRITERIA (Regulation 2016/364, Table 1). A1: EN ISO 1182 — ΔT ≤ 30 °C, Δm ≤ 50 %, tf = 0 (no sustained flaming), and EN ISO 1716 — PCS ≤ 2.0 MJ/kg for the product (for components, depending on type, also ≤ 1.4 MJ/m²). A2: EN ISO 1182 (ΔT ≤ 50 °C, Δm ≤ 50 %, tf ≤ 20 s) or EN ISO 1716 (PCS ≤ 3.0 MJ/kg, for components ≤ 4.0 MJ/m²), and EN 13823 — FIGRA ≤ 120 W/s, LFS less than the edge of the specimen, THR600s ≤ 7.5 MJ. B: SBI as for A2 and EN ISO 11925-2 with 30 s exposure — Fs ≤ 150 mm within 60 s. C: FIGRA ≤ 250 W/s, LFS less than the edge of the specimen, THR600s ≤ 15 MJ and the small-flame test as for B. D: FIGRA ≤ 750 W/s and the small-flame test as for B. E: EN ISO 11925-2 with 15 s exposure — Fs ≤ 150 mm within 20 s. F: with 15 s exposure Fs > 150 mm within 20 s.

ADDITIONAL CLASSIFICATION. Smoke: s1 — SMOGRA ≤ 30 m²/s² and TSP600s ≤ 50 m²; s2 — SMOGRA ≤ 180 m²/s² and TSP600s ≤ 200 m²; s3 — neither s1 nor s2. Flaming droplets or particles in the SBI test within 600 s: d0 — none; d1 — none persisting longer than 10 s; d2 — neither d0 nor d1. Ignition of the paper in the EN ISO 11925-2 test gives d2. A class is written e.g. as B-s1,d0.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE HERE. SBI burner output, test durations, number of specimens, conditioning and substrate selection (EN 13238), specimen dimensions for EN ISO 1182 and EN ISO 1716, and criteria for floorings, pipe insulation and cables (Tables 2–4 of the Regulation) — apart from what is quoted, they were not in the available texts of the standards. Nor do we state which laboratories perform these tests or who issues classification reports.

Method principle

A product is assigned to a reaction-to-fire class according to the criteria of the standard by comparing the results of tests: non-combustibility in a furnace at approximately 750 °C (temperature rise, mass loss, duration of sustained flaming), gross heat of combustion in a bomb calorimeter in an atmosphere of oxygen, the single burning item test SBI in a corner of two wings (FIGRA index, heat THR600s, lateral flame spread LFS, smoke SMOGRA and TSP600s, flaming droplets) and small-flame ignitability with a 20 mm flame applied for 15 s or 30 s (flame spread Fs, ignition of the filter paper). Classes A1 and A2 require the non-combustibility or heat of combustion criteria to be met, classes A2–D the SBI criteria, and classes B–F the small-flame test criteria.

Applications

• Classification of the reaction to fire of construction products excluding floorings, linear pipe insulation and cables (Regulation (EU) 2016/364, Table 1)
• Floorings, linear pipe thermal insulation and electric cables — separate tables of criteria (Regulation (EU) 2016/364, Tables 2–4)
• Homogeneous products and substantial components of non-homogeneous products in the non-combustibility test (EN ISO 1182, clause 1)
• Essentially flat products in the SBI test (EN 13823, clause 1)
• Products that are not essentially flat, e.g. pipe insulation, tested in their end-use form in the small-flame test (EN ISO 11925-2, 5.3)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 13501-1:2019-02

Title (PL)

Klasyfikacja ogniowa wyrobów budowlanych i elementów budynków — Część 1: Klasyfikacja na podstawie badań reakcji na ogień

Title (EN)

Fire classification of construction products and building elements — Part 1: Classification using data from reaction to fire tests

Step-by-step procedure

1. Specimen preparation

   Prepare specimens and substrates for each test needed; conditioning and selection of substrates according to EN 13238 (referenced in EN ISO 1182 and EN 13823).

2. Non-combustibility (classes A1, A2)

   Perform the furnace test according to EN ISO 1182 and determine ΔT, Δm and tf.

3. Heat of combustion (classes A1, A2)

   Burn a specimen of specified mass in the bomb in an atmosphere of oxygen and determine PCS, taking account of heat loss and the latent heat of vaporization of water (EN ISO 1716, clause 4).

4. SBI test (classes A2–D)

   Mount the specimen wings on the backing boards, expose them to the corner burner and determine FIGRA, THR600s, LFS, SMOGRA, TSP600s, and observe flaming droplets (EN 13823).

5. Small flame (classes B–F)

   Set a flame 20 mm high, apply it to the surface or edge of a 250 mm × 90 mm specimen for 15 s (class E) or 30 s (classes B–D), measure Fs and observe ignition of the filter paper (EN ISO 11925-2, 7.3).

6. Classification

   Compare the results with the criteria of the classes and the additional classification (EN 13501-1; Regulation (EU) 2016/364, Table 1) and state the class in the form e.g. B-s1,d0.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Fire testing can be hazardous and toxic or harmful smoke and gases are produced — hazard assessment, written safety instructions and training of personnel (EN 13823, warning; EN ISO 11925-2, 7.3)
• Smoke and gases are removed from the workplace (EN 13823, warning)
• Means of extinguishing the specimen: hand water spray or inert gas, e.g. compressed nitrogen, and extinguishers; smouldering specimens may need to be immersed in water (EN ISO 11925-2, 7.3)
• Oxygen for the calorimetric bomb — oxygen prepared by electrolysis can contain hydrogen (EN ISO 1716, 6.2, warning)

Frequently asked questions