A Trial by Fire Still Holds Up Today
When specific jobs called for a Class A fire rating, cast polymer and solid surface manufacturers had been at the mercy of fire marshals who demanded data about their products. Then a technical paper produced by the International Cast Polymer Alliance demonstrated that cast polymer products could meet the standard. Now, more than 10 years later, the data still holds up.
Ken Lipovsky of Reichhold will re-present the data and remind manufacturers what is necessary to meet the standard. “We got members to manufacture panels to submit for testing to determine the smoke and flame spread ratings,” he says. “In order to meet the Class A rating for both, it was determined that a certain amount of ATH had to be added to the formulation to meet the requirements.”
Products such as fireplace surrounds need to meet the rating in order to pass muster. Lipovsky will review the test data, which takes into account the thickness of parts, whether or not it they have gel coats and different ATH levels.
