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• 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.