frequently asked questions

Spread of fire is of particular concern within schools, and due to the typical coverage of notice boards within school corridors they need to be assessed as fabric of the building and not simply loose inventory. The annual cost of school fires amount to an incredible £65 million, many of which are caused by arson. The disruption to every effected school is huge and can be minimised by following the regulations with regard to Fire Safety and specifically the prevention of spread of fire.

When a notice board, whether covered or uncovered is being installed in a school corridor, stairwell or escape route then the product needs to have a sufficiently limited contribution to fire growth i.e. be "fire retardant". If the notice board is being installed within a classroom, hall or staff room then the product can be a standard notice board.

The term fire retardant as applied to organic (i.e., containing carbon) materials, is intended to refer to reduced fire hazard and describes fabric's ability to resist ignition with the flame size and duration in the test conditions. The result is a comparative test, which provides a measure of the material's resistance to propagating combustion caused by small scale ignition sources.

Fabric flammability is an important textile issue, especially if used in a public space such as a school, theatre or hospital. In the UK fire regulations require that furnishings used in such spaces be certified as flame or fire retardant.

Flame retardant fabric gain their resistance qualities improved by treatment with fire retardant chemicals. Flame retardants are chemical goods that inhibit or resist the spread of fire. Additive and reactive flame-retardant chemicals can function in the vapor or condensed phase. Depending on the specific chemical, any of the mechanisms may be utilized. Due to specific physical and chemical properties of the flame retardant and its effects on the substrate, most are used exclusively as either reactive or additive.

BB100 states that wall linings within school corridors must be certified under En13501-1 to a class B standard, a certification that encompasses tests for spread of flame and heat & smoke generation. Effectively testing if the product contributes to, and can spread a fire.

International Organization for Standardization / British Standards / European Norm

Increasingly, international trade and service provision is being facilitated by internationally-accepted standards that are widely recognized, respected and adopted as guarantees of good quality management. The ISO is an international organization coordinating the standards of national quality-management agencies in most countries in the world. ISO first published its quality standards in 1987, revised them in 1994, and updated them in 2000. The latest standards reflect the needs of service industries and also incorporate a process approach to quality management. BS EN ISO 9001:2000 provides a set of international standards providing a guide for the establishment and monitoring of quality management process for organization: its guidelines are defined under eight principles by which an organization should arrange and monitor its quality management.

EN 13501 is a European equivalent of BS 476 fire retardancy test developed in fire science and fire protection. It measures the fabric's behavior mainly with regards to the combustion characteristics of flame spread, the rate of heat release, toxicity of smoke, its density and the final combustion result.

Effectively a product that meets EN13501-1 class B can be used in the same area's that the older BS476 part 7 class 1 certification allows.

BS 476 is a test measuring the surface spread of flame. This test shows how the spread of flame across the surface of a material gives an indication as to its ability to spread fire. The sample is mounted in a water-cooled holder and exposed to the radiant panel for 10 minutes with a pilot flame applied for the first minute of the test. The progression of the flame front is measured after 1 ½ minutes and at the end of the test. The test grades material from 1 (best) down to 4 (worst).

For corridor applications the answer is no. The regulations demand that the product in its full assembled form is classified class B following EN 13501-1.

Covered notice boards tend to be large in size with substantial hinged doors. Again the regulations suggest that covered boards should be fitted with top hinged doors, to prevent the door jutting out into the corridor. Again you should be specifying a product that at least to an EN13501-1 class B standard. Large top hinged doors can be quite weighty, so it is also recommend that models with support stays are fitted making it easier and safer for the user.

In a corridor the regulations state that no single noticeboard run should be more than 3.0m long and there should be a gap of 1.0m between each board.

In essence you are free to install a standard office style notice board within a classroom, although we do make the following recommendations. Firstly keep the notice board run to less than 2.5m and try to introduce gaps of at least 0.4m between each board.

For a new build or a new extension to an existing building the Building Regulations and approved documents must be complied with in full. For existing buildings the responsibility of ensuring compliance is with the School itself and verified in the event of a routine inspection or in the unfortunate event of an incident. The key element to this responsibility is your risk assessment; if you have evaluated the risks and made appropriate provisions. If in the event of an incident the School is found to be negligent then prosecution would follow.