What is Exap?
Exap Fire stands for Extended Application Assesments. Without question, today’s roofing industry is experiencing a greater focus on the fire performance of roofing systems than ever before.
This is partly due to regulatory changes but also down to improved standards and expectations across the industry, with clients, building owners and insurers wanting to satisfy their own criteria.
The regulations are reasonably clear stating that, in general, roof systems must be classified to BS EN 13501-5 BROOF(t4); the exception being ‘attachments’ on buildings over a certain height (18m in England and Wales, and 11m in Scotland), where the insulation must be non-combustible.
However, it is easy to see where the waters can be muddied by an almost infinite amount of possible build ups.
Specifiers and architects are, rightly, concerned whether different membranes, deck types, insulation, thicknesses, technologies and finishes will complicate the fire performance of a particular system.
While the industry is currently in consultation through its trade bodies and associations to seek clarity with a simplified and unified approach, this isn’t likely to be a fast process.
In the meantime, Sika has sought to anticipate and meet this challenge by providing assurance through an evidence-based certification, spanning the entire breadth of its single-ply range. That way, whichever system, product, or technology was being proposed, there would be proven evidence that it met with approved industry standards.
As a result, Sika made the decision to take its already extensive fire testing to another level with the use of Extended Application Assessments (EXAP).
Whilst achieving this level of range-wide certification involved significant time and financial investment, Sika chose to play an active role in demonstrating fire performance for the greater good of the industry.
Sika has now completed Extended Application Assessments, testing to CEN/TS 1187:2012 Test method 4 for the entire Sika Sarnafil range of PVC single ply membranes. Subsequently, the most common Sika Sarnafil roof systems are now all classified under BSEN 13501-5 as BROOF(t4).Working closely with independent global fire safety testing, inspection and certification company Warringtonfire – part of the Element Materials Technology Group – Sika has undertaken significant investment to attain the BROOF(t4) classification across all PVC membrane systems. This covers a range of permutations, including membrane type, thickness of PIR insulation, up to a 70-degree pitch and on any structural substrate.A project spanning over two years’ work, Sika has invested a substantial amount of time and resource, utilising the EXAP standard CEN/TS16459, which is available as a means of covering ranges of system permutations.
Dean Grady, project leader and Senior Product Engineer at Sika, comments on why Sika has opted to invest in this type of testing:
"“The market has become acutely aware of fire safety and it is looking to industry leaders to help. We have seen for a while now that specifiers, architects, clients and building control are increasingly insisting on fire test certificates that directly reflect the exact system being installed. As it is very problematic to test every single permutation of a system, when you factor in multiple substrate types, insulation thickness and membrane type/thicknesses, EXAP testing through an independent body allows us to cover most variations of the system being installed. With Sika Sarnafil roof systems classified as BROOF(t4), we’re able to demonstrate and facilitate regulatory compliance for fire safety and satisfy current market demand."