68 | Sector Focus: Preservatives & Fire Retardants
TESTING TIMES
Woodsafe is developing more advanced methods for long-term testing of fire-retardant treated wood in its new research laboratory
Woodsafe Timber Protection has long been a respected player in the fire-retardant wood market and the Västerås-based company has been working hard to develop and improve safety in this area for more than 30 years. Today, the company is Europe’s largest manufacturer of fire-retardant treated wood – and it’s constantly evolving, inspired by the business’ motto “Safer Living,” which was chosen to emphasise the importance of enhancing safety for both life and property. Research and development are continuously under way at the company’s new fire and development centre, Woodsafe Research & Development AB (WRD). It is one of the most modern privately-owned labs in Europe for testing fire-retardant wood, and here, Woodsafe is starting the next phase of its work with WRD as the executor, to study and test long-term fire-retardant treated wood. Woodsafe’s fire-retardant products will be continuously tested and studied over many years. The work is led by Dr Lazaros Tsantaridis, head of research, who has 36 years’ experience in fire research, with special focus on fire safety in timber buildings, at RISE Wood Building Technology, in Stockholm.
The fire-retardant wood will undergo aging both in field trials outdoors and in artificial aging chambers with varying exposure times and will be fire-tested using established methods such as SBI (EN 13823), Cone (ISO 5660–1), and SP Fire 105.
“Woodsafe aims to meet the market’s need for more information regarding the life-span of fire-retardant wood,” said Peter Johnson, Woodsafe’s product and development manager. “The company will provide research partner RISE with insight for product control, and other Woodsafe partners will also have access to the results.” For many years, Woodsafe has advocated for EN 16755 EXT to be the standard requirement for choosing fire-retardant wood. This is the standard that ensures fire-retardant wood is tested and classified to withstand exposure in damp and challenging outdoor environments without being leached, which could reduce fire protection. Woodsafe is currently involved in the work to revise the standard.
“Ensuring that fire-retardant wood products retain their protective properties over time, especially in challenging environments, is crucial for guaranteeing safety in our fire- protected buildings and safeguarding both people and property,” said Thomas Bengtsson, Woodsafe CEO.
The company also firmly believes that it is not enough to test fire-retardant treated wood in small-scale laboratory tests. The limitations of these tests are many, it said, and they do not provide a realistic picture of how the material behaves in real fire situations. To achieve reliable results, larger-scale tests are required.
WRD has recently published a white paper
(
https://www.woodsafe.com/en/document- library) analysing testing methods for fire protection of wood. The report highlights the shortcomings of small-scale tests and compares them with more large-scale and realistic testing methods.
Small-scale laboratory tests can provide some insight during product development, but they are not sufficient to ensure overall fire safety. They tend to underestimate the risks in a fire, which can lead to misleading conclusions and incorrect priorities in development. Additionally, they can create an exaggerated perception of risks that do not align with reality. To make more balanced risk assessments, for example for insurance companies, large-scale tests that provide better data are required, said the company. These tests mimic real conditions and provide more reliable results. Examples of such tests include medium-scale methods such as Single Burning Item (SBI), where materials are tested in a three-dimensional corner construction, or full-scale facade fire tests such as SP Fire 105. It is crucial to understand how different materials and facade systems behave at the beginning of a fire. Factors such as cladding, insulation, and air gaps play a significant role. Large-scale tests make it possible to analyse flame spread, heat development, and other critical parameters under the most realistic conditions possible. These tests not only provide a better understanding of how fire-retardant treated wood behaves in a fire but also help to strengthen confidence in wood structures as a safe and sustainable building solution. Condemning fire-retardant treated wood based on insufficient tests would be a step back for sustainable construction, says the company. An increased focus on concrete as a replacement would undermine global sustainability goals. Therefore, new developed standards that reflect insights from larger- scale tests are needed. The proposed revision of the EN 16755 standard is a step in the right direction.
Above: Medium-scale methods include Single Burning Item (SBI), where materials are tested in a three-dimensional corner construction
TTJ | May/June 2025 |
www.ttjonline.com
The fire protection industry is increasingly abandoning small-scale tests in favour of medium and large-scale methods. WRD’s long-term study is part of the Woodsafe Group’s commitment to strengthening fire safety. The company works to show that wood structures are a safe and sustainable solution with maintained fire protection over time. ■
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