When a fire is able to take hold within the roof, combustible insulation materials can contribute significantly to the fire load and provide a path for fire spread between internal areas of the building.
While a ban on combustible insulation is now in place for the external walls of relevant buildings above 18m*, no such ban is in place for roofing insulation.
As well as housing plant and machinery, roof space is increasingly being leveraged for solar panel installations or for green and blue roofs to meet sustainability targets. While this is beneficial to building owners, these modern applications can contribute to fire risk.
The main fire risks that a flat roof is exposed to include:
- Arson
- Fire spread from nearby buildings
- Internal fire spread
- Hot works
- Plant failure
- Lanterns and fireworks
To help you better understand the impact of fire in flat roofs and how to manage the risk, ROCKWOOL has developed a whitepaper which will guide you through:
- The modern role of the roof
- Common fire risks in the fifth façade
- The socio-economic impact of roof fires using case study examples
- Roof regulations
- Understanding BROOF (t4) and Euroclass ratings
To learn more and develop your understanding on flat roofs and managing fire risk – download the ROCKWOOL whitepaper now. Download here