Get fired up about safety

Understanding flame retardants and wood products

This year’s Fire Door Safety Week runs from 25-29 September. This national campaign, run by the British Woodworking Council and supported by Timber Development UK, aims to educate and engage the whole industry to understand the correct specification, installation and maintenance of fire doors.

Merchants play an important role in promoting fire safety when it comes to wood products. Equipping your staff with the essential facts about timber and flame-retardant treatments is the first step towards protecting your reputation and, most importantly, your customers’ safety.

Understand the terminology

Fire doors are rated FD30 or FD60, giving either 30- or 60-minutes’ protection against the spread of fire. Remind your customers that installation instructions must be followed exactly so the protection isn’t compromised.

To know if a product is fit for purpose you must understand the relevant terminology. They may need products compliant with a Euroclass ‘Reaction to Fire’ rating.

Euroclass B is the highest level that wood-based products can achieve with a factory-applied, quality-tested, flame-retardant treatment. These are intended to slow the growth rate of a fire. Untreated wood-based products are usually Euroclass D by default.

Flame-retardant treatments

FR treatments are factory applied, either through pressure impregnation or during the manufacturing process. We strongly advise against brush-on flame-retardant coatings, as their effectiveness depends on how well they have been applied.

Always ask your supplier for a copy of the product’s Reaction to Fire Classification Report. All TDUK members can provide this – if your supplier can’t, find an alternative supplier.

TDUK has guides that can give you more information about fire safety and why flame-retardant treatments are so important. Check out our Merchant Guide to Selling Timber for details, or visit timberfiresafety.org, which contains everything your customers need to know to create fire-safe wood buildings with confidence