Fire performance of insulated panels

Insulated panels have been used on industrial and commercial building for over 30 years and are now increasingly used in the retail, leisure, education and health sectors. The majority of Insulated panels are manufactured with rigid urethane insulating cores and their performance in the relatively few fires in which they have been involved over this time has been exemplary.

This section highlights all the latest information on the fire performance of insulated panels and rigid urethane cored panels in particular.

Insurance certification
Insulated panel systems from EPIC member companies are now manufactured with PIR (polyisocyanurate) cores that satisfy the requirements of the Loss Prevention Council – LPS 1181 or Factory Mutual – FMRC 4880/4771 – class 1 certifications.
See Certificated panels and testing.

Fire safety, regulations and installation (76 page guide).
The only complete fire guide specifically for insulated panels covering all aspects of their use as the external envelope – roofs and walls of buildings.
See Guide to fire safety.

Performance in fire tests (20 page guide).
Performance of external cladding systems in fire. This guide presents the results of the only major fire research programme to verify the Reaction to Fire behaviour of insulated panels and other external cladding systems.
See The EPIC fire tests.

Fire research results: analysis of actual fires (report).
Research shows that external roof and wall claddings constructed from polyurethane panels are not a major fire risk.
See Fire research results.

Fire research: (case history reports of actual fires).
Case histories of actual fires in which insulated panels have become involved, which demonstrate that PIR and PUR panels perform very well and without significant contribution to the fire.
See Case histories.