Combustible Facade SYSTEMS
Australia was hit with a facade fire which shot up over 20 stories within seconds at the Lacrosse Building in Melbourne’s Docklands in November 2014. The United Arab Emirates have sustained 3 Major Facade fires during the past year. The swiftness of fire spread has been blamed upon Wall Cladding Systems which are highly combustible.
To help combat non-compliance and Public Safety in Australia the ABCB released an Advisory Note in Aug 2016 “Fire Performance of External Walls and Cladding”. This highlighted that all components which make up the Facade Wall Cladding System are to be made from non-combustible materials on all type A and B construction projects. This includes the SARKING, AS1530.2 and AS1530.3 are not non-combustibility tests, AS1530.1 is.
There are a number of Fully DTS non-combustible Sarking materials on the market in Australia, yet a majority of high rise towers currently being built in our Cities, are still using combustible Sarking materials. Does anyone know who is currently signing off on these new buildings? and what evidence of suitability they are signing off on? “She’ll Be Right Mate” Lets hope we do not have any more facade fires in Australia, where lives are lost.
A fella rang the other day and asked, "Do you sell Non-Combustible sarking?" I said, "Yes we do" He said, "How does it compare with other sarkings on the market?" I said which one?" He said "This one" I said "That one is a Highly Combustible, Non-Compliant product! and mine is a Non-Combustible, fully DTS Compliant product!"
Business Development Manager at Inglis Fire and Safety
8 年Killian Smith
Passive Fire Protection Creator & Compliance Consultant TKCS
8 年A few years ago some sarking manufacturers carried out an extremely good sales marketing campaign throughout Australia pushing their vapour permeable sarking. Photographs of rotting joists, insulation, wall and ceiling linings were shown. The cause of the issue was blamed upon the use of Non-vapour permeable sarking. This gave the misconception to Industry that all sarking should be vapour permeable otherwise you’d have damp and mold. This isn’t entirely true, I believe the root cause of damp and rot is the fact that in Australia, toilet fans, shower fans and cooker hood fans are usually vented straight into the roof and ceiling voids, when warm air and steam hits a cold surface it will turn to moisture. There are a number of factors which will cause or prevent damp and mold. Geographical location, sarking on the inside or outside of the frame or both, type of insulation used, type of building and quality of installation, just to name a few. There is a requirement for the use of both non vapour permeable and vapour permeable sarking products, this is determined by the overall design of the wall and roof/ceiling. I’m a fire protection salesman, so my knowledge of thermal bridging is extremely limited, I would recommend the use of an Independent Insulation expert to determine which type of sarking is required for your particular project. Unfortunately the ABCB Condensation Handbook and video are purely Advisory (nothing to do with Compliance) The reality is that if something adds more expense to a building like ventilation ducting having to be taken from inside to outside on range hoods, bathrooms, showers and toilets, it is unlikely to be installed by some builders where cheap and cheerful is the only criteria in their handbook. Nice video though. However non-combustible sarking is currently required to meet DTS Regulatory Compliance on all Type A and B Construction in Australia...
Passive Fire Protection Creator & Compliance Consultant TKCS
8 年I’ve been asked the question “Is it breathable?” we have 3 Non-Combustible Sarkings: 1. Phoenix EA Sarking (non-vapour permeable) which also has an FRL-/90/- to AS1530.4 Used for secondary ember protection in bushfire area’s up to and including BAL-40. SOLD OUT Due back into our Australian warehouses mid-January 2. TBA Firefly Non-combustible Sarking (vapour permeable) due into our Australian warehouses mid-February 2017. 3. TBA Firefly Non-combustible Sarking (non-vapour permeable) currently in stock. Depending on where you are located geographically in Australia (extremes of heat and cold etc), will determine whether you require a vapour permeable or non-vapour permeable sarking.
Business Development at De Silva Solutions
8 年Is it breathable?
Director of Operations | Construction Management, Sustainable Energy
8 年cost cutting is never worth it.