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105 IITGN-UL/Façade                                                                                                                                                          106 IITGN-UL/Façade

















                  •    The tests clearly demonstrated that component-level fire safety assessment is not sufficient to predict system-level performance in a real fire
                     event. This, again, is something that has been recently observed in the Grenfell building fire as well, where all the façade materials used in
                     construction were tested as per BS 476 but failed to serve the purpose in the real event. As such, more system-level characterization needs to
                     be performed to assess fire risks associated with façade system.


                  •    The experiments also underlined the need to better understand the structural behavior of non-structural components (such as false ceiling,
                     fire protection materials and façade systems). Present building standards (e.g. BS 476 or NFPA 285) are designed primarily to test the surface
                     flame spread behavior of fire protection materials whereas their structural integrity plays a key role in ensuring their proper functioning
                     during a fire event.


                  •  Finally, the experiments demonstrated the practical difference between fire ratings prescribed through standard ISO 834 exposures and
                     behavior of materials in real fire scenarios. It is essential to test building components under relevant real fire scenarios as their behavior can                                                                                                                              To summarize, the four full-scale
                     be markedly different (due to the presence of both heating and cooling phases in a real fire as opposed to the standard fire which has only                                                                                                                                    experiments provided a wealth of
                     heating phase).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               information that will be crucial for
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              understanding and improving fire safety
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                of façade systems. This, being the first
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                attempt at studying such a problem in
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           India, is only an initial step.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        MANY MORE SUCH STUDIES

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        NEED TO BE PERFORMED FOR

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        PROPER CHARACTERIZATION OF
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        FIRE RISK IN BUILDINGS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        THAT USE FAÇADE SYSTEMS.
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