What Does A Fire Resistance Rating Mean?
A fire resistance rating is one of many tools used by designers to assess relative fire risk. In addition to fire resistance, other properties of the construction materials to be considered include burning characteristics, fuel load of the space, and the proposed use of the structure or occupancy. All of these features must be considered before an assessment of the actual fire risk can be made. Additional factors such as building location, distance to fire services, and the presence or absence of other fire protection systems are also part of this complex assessment process. A fire resistance rating alone cannot predict the performance of a system or building in an actual fire. In fact, no fire test method that is conducted under laboratory conditions can predict what will happen in a real structure fire. Fire tests are simply convenient ways of classifying materials and establishing a ranking of performance among different materials so designers can compare and select materials and sy
