November 27, 2014

The Truth About The NFPA 285 Fire Propagation Test

The NFPA 285, Standard Fire Method for Evaluation of Fire Propagation Characteristics of Exterior Non-Loadbearing Wall Assemblies Containing Combustible Components is a standard that was created as a way to evaluate and monitor wall assemblies designed for construction with combustible products.  The standard, which regulates the introduction of combustible materials into a wall assembly, does not include or exclude a manufacturer’s component product within an assembly, it evaluates the entire assembly without assessing separate components of the assembly. There are many misconceptions surrounding this standard, and some manufacturers have been claiming  their individual products conform to the testing standard.  Individual products do not conform to the testing standard and any suggestions that a product does conform is simply false.  The standard, which was first introduced in 1998, has recently been revised and was published as an American National Standard on January 2, 2012.