Furniture

WPA Director Dr Chris Coggins said the results provide solid reassurance to building designers who specify flame retardant timber treatments conforming to WPA end use classifications. He says: “Long term testing is the definitive means of establishing if fire protection performance can be maintained throughout the life of a building. The 21 year test results are a powerful endorsement of the WPA recommendations on classifying and specifying the fire retardant treatment of timber and plywood used in construction.”


A new European Standard on fire retardant treatments is under development. It is expected to include the specification of product by end use application and rigorous testing to establish product durability. “This is very much in line with the WPA recommendation on fire protection product classification and specification” says Chris Coggins who points out that the 21 years of performance data gathered to date will give designers the means to specify the WPA listed products with confidence; he says: “The new standard will challenge all fire protection product types to demonstrate their durability and thanks to our long term trial data the WPA can assist UK specifiers right now to make informed fire protection decisions.”

The WPA publishes a designer’s manual: Industrial Flame Retardant Treatment of Solid Timber & Panel Products which provides guidance on end use classification and standard specifications.