Fire resistance of the Isotex building system. REI120 formwork blocks - REI240 floors
ISOTEX offers maximum safety in terms of fire resistance. The wood cement formwork blocks are certified REI120 (without plaster) and the wood cement floors are certified REI240 (without plaster). The wood undergoes a natural mineralisation process that makes it inert (inorganic) and therefore not susceptible to fire, mould and wood-destroying pests.
The Isotex building does not collapse as the concrete, reinforcement and insulation are inside the formwork block and are therefore protected by the wood cement sheet. BASF’s Neopor® BMBcert EPS thus maintains very low temperatures in the event of a fire, so it does not burn and does not emit toxic gases.
These data confirm that, before the structure made with load-bearing walls and Isotex floor panels collapses, there is all the time to be able to evacuate the people present in the building in complete safety.
Isotex guarantees maximum fire resistance
Choose safe and REI-certified materials
Fire resistance is a very important aspect to consider for buildings, both in the design phase by engineers and architects, and when buying the property. Buildings built with construction technologies defined as “natural and light” have ended up in ashes due to electrical short circuits or for chimney flues not laid correctly. In addition, construction technologies with the use of insulating blocks obtained with “petroleum derivatives“, in the event of a fire inside or outside the structure, emit highly toxic gases that lead, as has already happened, to serious poisoning.
For these reasons, when buying a house you must pay close attention, not only to energy savings, but also to the reactions of construction materials in the presence of fire, always choosing products that have obtained the REI Fire Resistance Certification.
Isotex REI 120 block temperature diagram
Isotex wall temperatures. The side of the wall and the floor where temperature sensors are located record 33°C after 178 minutes of fire exposure of over 1,100°C.
Isotex REI240 floor temperature diagram
Isotex floor temperatures. On the top surface of the floors, 25°C is detected after 240 minutes of exposure to fire at over 1,100°C.
The Isotex building does not collapse in the event of a fire and does not emit toxic gases
- The building does not collapse. In case of fire, the ISOTEX constructive elements, with reinforced concrete cores, retain their load-bearing capacity and insulation properties, without suffering damage.
- Thermally exceptional. Excellent thermal insulation and inertia uneasily matched by other building systems.
What Italian fire-fighting legislation establishes
The reference legislation is the “Fire Prevention Code” Ministerial Decree of 3 August 2015, the result of the experiences of the rescue activities of the Fire Brigade and updated on 1 January 2023. The Fire Prevention Code collects in a single text the technical rules and also introduces the Horizontal Technical Rule (RTO) applicable to all activities, and the Vertical Technical Rules (RTV) for the enclosures of buildings.
The following are part of the reference regulatory framework:
1) NTC 2018 “New technical building standards”: introduces the building fire safety requirement.
2) Vertical Technical Rule RTV13 of 2022: regulates the rules for facade fire behaviour by dividing the enclosures of buildings into 3 different classes (SA-SB-SC).
Isotex documentation at your disposal: Tested and certified fire resistance
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Certification CSTB fire resistance blocks REI 120
It is the report of classification of the formwork blocks on the basis of the fire resistance test of a load-bearing wall.
Test report extract No. RS12-042
See the photographic documentation of the Isotex load-bearing wall subjected to the fire resistance test.
Certification of CSI fire resistance in REI 240 floors
This is the fire resistance rating ratio of the Isotex load-bearing floor subjected to fire testing.
Test report extract No. CSI1776FR
Learn more about the resistance documentation of Isotex floors with images of Isotex floors after exposure to fire.
Analyses. Why choose the Isotex system
Facade fire. Isotex complies with international standards
Fire resistance: Isotex blocks b,s1-d0
