Fire test: how to compare two demonstrations

Two test videos can almost never be compared

The flame source, the distance, the exposure time, the orientation of the sample and how it is fixed completely change the result. Two videos filmed under different conditions show two different experiments, not two products compared.

The five parameters to spot

The type of flame, the distance to the sample, the time of application, the vertical or horizontal position, and whether there is a substrate behind. A video that does not state them supports no comparative conclusion.

Why orientation changes everything

A flame applied under a horizontal sample behaves differently from one applied to a vertical face, because hot gases rise along the material. Standardised tests fix that position precisely for that reason.

What only a classification allows

Comparison. The EN 13501-1 standard defines an identical protocol for all products, and that is what makes two classifications comparable with each other, which no filmed demonstration can do.

How to read a classification

Three indices together. The letter describes the contribution to fire, the s index the smoke, the d index the flaming droplets. A product announced by its letter alone is described to one third.

What a video is for, then

Showing a behaviour, answering a worry and opening a conversation. That is a legitimate use, provided you say what it is and supply the classification alongside.

The question to ask a supplier

The test report, not the video. A named laboratory, a cited standard and a report date make a verifiable answer, and those are the three items an inspection body will ask for.

Reaction to fire is set out on the dedicated page, and the tests on the R'BULL fire test page.