Standards in Fireproofing - AWCI

1 Standardsin FireproofingiaWCC/GDCI s Procedurefor Inspection EnhancesWorkmanshipMeasureby Frank X. Neuwirthn the last seven or eight years, anIincreasing awareness of fire- proofing requirements by code andbuilding officials and specifiers hasbrought to light a definitive needfor proper inspection of materials, unlesslaboratory evaluated, have beenhistorically difficult to evaluate interms of to 1971, the ASTM (E119)fire test procedure guidelines usedby Underwriters Laboratories (Un-derwriters Laboratories, , IL and UnderwritersLaboratories of Canada)

2 , allowedextensive structural movement ofbeams and deck systems during afire before considering failure, pro-viding concrete slabs above thebeams stayed within certain tem-perature treated with fire protectiontested under those guidelines oftenattained a 4 hour fire endurance rat-ing, before achieving structural , using the revised ASTME119 guidelines, a beam treatedand tested in the same manner,would achieve only a 1 hour rating;if tested under certain conditions, amaximum 2 hour rating can , there are still anumber of code Standards whichvary greatly in interpretation anduse of known fire criteria are applied toresults obtained from tests andengineering evaluations performedby UL laboratories, resulting in amyriad of codes and requirementsby city and state , Fireproofing specifications8 Construction DIMENSIONSare improper or incomplete, result-ing in misunderstandings and in-correct interpretations.

3 A leadingcause for the wide spread of dollarsin bid criteria for columns has notbeen changed. Currently, a tem-perature limit of 1000 F average the above illustrationsare basic, they nevertheless, pointto the need of unified buildingcodes, (certainly a topic not to betreated lightly) of which fireproof-ing performance Standards are asmall, but very significant because of these reasons,the iaWCC/GDCI Technical Com-mittee No. 4 several years ago ac-tively involved itself in preparing adocument on field-inspection offireproofing products as a suitabletool for standardization of was the intent of this commit-tee to provide building officials andtesting agencies with a guide on howto perform tests, rather than providemethods or guidelines on judge-ments of code adherence.

4 The lattersubject is currently under intensestudy by this Committee and whencompleted a guideline will date, thousands of copies ofthe iaWCC/GDCI Inspection Pro-cedure have been distributed. It isthe official procedure that has beenapproved by iaWCC/GDCI, and bythe major manufacturers of sprayedfireproofing materials:W. R. Grace & Co., Construc-tion Products DivisionSprayCraft CorporationAmerican Energy Products (for-merly SprayDon Corp.) Mineral Products Co.,CAFCO DivisionThe procedure was also reviewedby the following organizations,whose constructive comments wereincorporated.

5 American Iron and Steel In-stituteCarboline CorporationInsurance Service OfficeSoutheast Lathing and Plaster-Construction DIMENSIONSing Bureau, Mineral FiberManufacturers AssociationUnderwriters Laboratories, Laboratories ofCanadaUnited States Gypsum Department of Health,Education and WelfareThe results of the combinedefforts of these organizations,manufacturers, and contractors isthe Inspection Procedure for FieldApplied Sprayed FireproofingMaterials .The procedure booklet is avail-able as a handy pocket edition fromiaWCC/GDCI (for details see page18).

6 Procedure GuidelineBasically, the guideline estab-lishes methods of determining the2 most significant aspects of fire-proofing:A. Determining ThicknessB. Establishing Applied DensityA third, and optional criteria is anadhesion/cohesion test, which maybe used to determine if fireproofingproducts meet minimum three procedures are practicaland simple tests which can be per-formed in the field, and/or samplesbe brought back to a laboratory to be tested should beknown prior to commencing. Sincethere are many required differentthicknesses on most projects, achart of requirements should beavailable.

7 The general contractorshould provide this TestAll Fireproofing products vary indensity, and there are stringent re-quirements for each UL classifiedproducts. Consideration must begiven to the following, when den-sity measurements performed:1. Density requirements vary witheach Some manufacturers produceseveral fire resistant productshaving different A minimum density is always re-quired by approval or classifica-tion agencies (UL, ICBO, etc).4. The required density may varyby UL design (if used). fire resistant products havechemically bound water, whichis released during exposure tofire, and consequently cannot beexposed to high temperatureswhen being dried to achieveequilibrium, for density determi-nations.

8 Therefore, the testingagency or individual charged toinspect, must know the specificsapproved or classification is in the Fireproofing contrac-Thickness Test:This test is performed by using athickness gauge, as it appears in thedrawing. This gauge is approved byASTM E605, and is used by Under-writers Laboratories. It is light,durable, and available fromiaWCC/GDCI required thickness oftors best interest to make surethe testing agency is completelya ware of these StrengthBond strength is measured byusing two criteria: Adhesion andCohesion.

9 Adhesion is theContinued on page 20920 Construction DIMENSIONSFIREPROOFINGC ontinued from page 9adherence of a material to a substr-ate. Cohesion is a product s internalcohesive a Fireproofing product istested for bond strength, one orboth of these criteria can be products vary in den-sity, performance and bondOne of the most successful com-ments I ve heard from a very activefireproofing contractor, is this: I make sure that the inspectorknows the product, and under-stands its properties, applicationand specific requirements for the building.

10 Should he find fireproofed areaswhich, for whatever reason, are notproper, he will point out the defi-ciency and allow correction, beforeI proceed to other floors (or areas) is not the purpose of fireproof-ing products to support adherenceof other materials, but to stay in-place during a fire. Therefore, theinspection procedure established areasonable minimum level ( of the procedure) of densities tested are withinspecifications, it is suggested thatthis test is optional, and at the dis-cretion of local building AgenciesThere are numerous testing agen-cies in laboratories in this country,but few have been exposed to fieldtesting of Fireproofing , field testing personnel arenew to sprayed you are a contractor involved infireproofing, make sure you have acouple of procedure booklets han-dy.