Containment

Fire testing and third party certification
FM Class 1 Approval to FM Approval Standard
4880
Full title: Factory Mutual Approval Standard, Class
Number 4880, Class 1 Insulated Wall or Wall
& Roof / Ceiling Panels, Plastic Interior Finish
Materials, Plastic Exterior Building Panels, Wall/
Ceiling Coating Systems, Interior or Exterior Finish
Systems.
Factory Mutual (FM) Approval of products provides
for independent third party inspection of facilities
before fi re testing as well as on going inspections to
ensure product manufactured continues to comply
with what was fi re tested.
FM testing - FM4880 (fire testing requirements
for core materials only)
This section has been included to highlight products
that have in fact been fi re tested and meet all of
the relevant acceptance criteria for FM 4880, but
do not have a formal FM Approval as the third
party inspections have not been conducted and the
ongoing audit are not in place.
This applies provides some confi dence to sandwich
panel manufacturers and this provides confi dence
that if the materials are incorporated into sandwich
panels that there is a high probability that FM
Approval can be gained.
The fi re testing for FM 4880 approval requires a
series of fi re tests including small scale testing of
the core material for FM fl ammability / fl ame spread
characteristics (fl ame spread parameter), 25ft or
50ft corner testing as applicable (a specifi c FM test
method) and full scale ISO9075 or UBC26-3 room
corner testing.
It should be noted that the acceptance criteria /
failure criteria applied by FM for the ISO9705 test
component of their overall fi re testing program,
is more stringent and more detailed compared to
those of the Building Code of Australia.
Figure 23: Room corner test before flash over
(Photo: Courtesy of FM Global)
Note - FM Approval is specifi c to a particular
production location and not generic to a proprietary
product type.
Figure 24: Room corner test during fl ash over
(Photo: Courtesy of FM Global)
The Alliance
Shared Goal #4
To disseminate technical information
to the Fire Safety community.
www.pfpa.com.au
22.
TBG-03.2