Fire Codes and Your Roof: Class A vs. Class C Codes
Are you familiar with fire codes and how they work with roofs? Depending on where you live in the world, you may have more stringent fire codes than in other parts of the world. For example, in the United States, if you live in the Midwest where the rainfall is usually plentiful, the fire codes may not be as strict as they would be in New Mexico, for example, where wildfires can cause havoc on a number of properties.
Roofing tiles can earn one of three main ratings that range from “A” to “C”. When a roofing product has a Class A fire rating, it has attained the best fire rating that is available. It also means that the material in question meets the following criteria:
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- Intermittent Flame – an assembly of tiles is subjected to an intense flame with a strong air current for two minutes then turned off for two minutes. This procedure is repeated 15 times. After the final flame cycle the air current is continued and the assembly observed for an additional hour to look for failure.
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- Spread of Flame – flame and air current are applied for 10 consecutive minutes and then observed until the flame deck recedes. Once the flame deck recedes the assembly is checked for maximum spread of flame.
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- Burning Brand – a burning brand is placed on an assembly of roofing tiles with a high volume of wind behind it. The decking of the assembly is constantly monitored for 90 minutes to see if any fire burns through. If fire burns through the roof deck anytime during the 90 minute trial, the tiles fail.
A Class C fire rating on a roofing material, means the tests on the assemblies are done with 1 1/2″ brands instead of 12″ x 12″ brands and the tests are run for shorter periods of time.
DaVinci Roofscapes tiles are Class A fire rated with the proper underlayments. The video below shows a burning brand test on our roof tiles.
What questions about testing certifications do you have about our polymer roof tiles?