Efectis Group services

In the laboratories of the Efectis Group offer a wide range of tests can be performed with burners, calorimeters and smoke measuring instruments. Igniting all kinds of products in a specific way over a period of time can help to determine the fire performance of a product and its contribution to the fire development. Ignitability, heat release, smoke development, and loss of weight can be measured through testing. All this information is needed to determine the product properties during fire and helps us build a safer world.

On-site tests with complex fires increase the system’s understanding of the fire phenomenon. They provide broad and deep knowledge which is of great value for fire cause investigation and reconstructions of fires.

The principles of Fire and Explosion Safety Engineering were introduced in UK with the standard DD240-1 “Fire Safety Engineering in Buildings. Guide to the application of fire safety engineering principles” of 1997. This standard has evolved over the years until its replacement by the first edition of BS 7974 in 2001. The latest version of BS 7974 is the 2019 edition, supported by the Published Documents PD 7974 series. According to BS 7974, the definition of fire engineering is “the application of scientific and engineering principles to the protection of people, property and the environment”. Efectis started implementing those fire engineering principles in the 90’s with the introduction of new numerical tools used in combination with experimental approaches undertaken within Efectis fire laboratories and already established analytical methods.

Fire safety of External Wall Systems (EWS) has been on the spotlight for many years, however, due to recent fire-related disasters globally it has attracted great public attention, been recognised as one of the most crucial fire safety challenges. It is therefore vital that fire safe façades are ensured on the design, construction and occupational operation of buildings. In UK, the Part B of the Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations 2010 (and as amended afterwards) specifies the functional requirements covering fire safety in buildings. In particular, requirement B4 (1) deals with the fire performance of external walls: ‘‘the external walls of buildings shall adequately resist the spread of fire over the walls and from one building to another, having regard to the height, use and position of the building.’’

Fire resistance tests according to European standards provide a direct field of application (DIAP). In addition to the direct area of application, it is also possible for many construction products to adjust the area of application based on European standards, namely the EXAP or Extended field of application. An additional advantage of the EXAP standards is the possibility to have the output classified. For those products for which CE marking is possible, the extended classification can be used as a Declaration of Performance (DoP). An EXAP cannot yet be drawn up under accreditation. However, the party that draws up an EXAP must demonstrate demonstrable affinity by having performed at least one of the tests for which the EXAP is written.