Fibre Reinforced Facade Encyclopedia: Testing and standards
EN ISO 1182 is the European reaction to fire test that determines whether a construction product is non-combustible. A small cylindrical specimen is lowered into an electrically heated furnace stabilised at about 750 °C and held there while thermocouples record the furnace, surface and centre temperatures, an observer times any sustained flaming, and the specimen is weighed before and after. The result feeds directly into EN 13501-1, where it is one of the two tests behind Class A1 and one of the routes to Class A2. It is the European counterpart of AS 1530.1 in Australia and ASTM E136 in the United States.
EN ISO 1182 does not award a class on its own. Class A1 requires this test and the calorific value test EN ISO 1716 together. Class A2 can be reached through either EN ISO 1182 or EN ISO 1716, and then must also pass the single burning item test EN 13823.
At a glance
| Property | Typical value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | EN ISO 1182 Reaction to fire tests for products: non-combustibility test | |
| Furnace | Tubular furnace stabilised at about 750 °C | Cone shaped air flow stabiliser below |
| Specimen | Cylinder about 45 mm diameter by 50 mm high | Five specimens normally tested |
| Duration | 30 minutes, or until temperature equilibrium | |
| Class A1 criteria | Furnace temperature rise not more than 30 °C; sustained flaming 0 s; mass loss not more than 50 percent | Mean of the specimens |
| Class A2 criteria | Furnace temperature rise not more than 50 °C; sustained flaming not more than 20 s; mass loss not more than 50 percent | |
| Companion test | EN ISO 1716, gross heat of combustion (PCS) | Required with 1182 for A1; an alternative route for A2 |
| Feeds into | EN 13501-1 Classes A1 and A2 | Not a fire resistance classification |
| Equivalents | AS 1530.1 (Australia), ASTM E136 (US), CAN/ULC S114 (Canada) | Similar in principle, not interchangeable in law |
How the test runs
The furnace is a vertical refractory tube with a cone shaped air flow stabiliser beneath it, brought to a stable temperature of about 750 °C and held within a narrow band before testing begins. Each specimen is dried, conditioned, weighed and instrumented with a thermocouple on its surface and another at its geometric centre. A third thermocouple, fixed in position, monitors the furnace wall.
The specimen is lowered into the furnace on a holder and left for thirty minutes or until temperatures reach equilibrium. Throughout, the operator records any flaming and times it. Afterwards the residue is weighed and the mass loss calculated. Five specimens are tested and the results are assessed as means, with the flaming criterion assessed specimen by specimen.
What the test asks is deliberately simple: can this material burn at all, and does it add heat to a furnace that is already at 750 °C. It says nothing about how a product would behave in a real fire, how fast flame would spread across it, or how much smoke it would make. Those are the questions the other tests in the EN 13501-1 suite answer.
Class A1 and Class A2
Class A1 is the strictest classification in the European system and requires both EN ISO 1182 and EN ISO 1716. Under EN ISO 1182 the mean furnace temperature rise must not exceed 30 °C, the mean mass loss must not exceed 50 percent, and there must be no sustained flaming at all. EN ISO 1716 then limits the gross heat of combustion of the product and its components.
Class A2 is limited combustibility rather than non-combustibility, and it offers a choice of route. A product can satisfy EN ISO 1182 with relaxed limits, a furnace temperature rise of not more than 50 °C, sustained flaming of not more than 20 seconds and mass loss of not more than 50 percent, or it can satisfy EN ISO 1716 instead. Either way, a Class A2 product must also be tested in the single burning item apparatus EN 13823 and meet the fire growth and total heat release limits there, which is what produces the full classification string such as A2-s1,d0.
Comparison with AS 1530.1 and ASTM E136
All three tests sit a small specimen in a furnace at about 750 °C and ask the same question, and no two of them are interchangeable in law. The differences are in the detail and they matter to a product near the margin.
AS 1530.1 uses a similar furnace and reports the outcome as Combustible or Not Deemed Combustible, which the National Construction Code treats as non-combustible. It allows sustained flaming of up to five seconds and applies a 50 °C temperature rise limit, and it does not use a mass loss criterion in the way the European test does. ASTM E136 uses a different specimen geometry, permits flaming within the first thirty seconds, and branches its criteria on whether mass loss exceeded 50 percent.
A product sold into Australia, Europe and the United States is therefore tested three times. An EN ISO 1182 result does not satisfy an Australian certifier and an AS 1530.1 report does not produce a European class. Where a non-combustible cladding is supplied internationally, the supplier will hold a set of parallel reports rather than one.
Which materials can pass, and which cannot
The candidates are inorganic: concrete, glass fibre reinforced concrete, fired clay and terracotta, stone, glass, mineral wool, steel and aluminium, and gypsum products within their own provisions. Whether a particular product passes depends on the product rather than the family, because polymer modifiers, admixtures, sealers, sizing on fibres and surface coatings all contribute organic content that a 750 °C furnace finds.
Polymer composites cannot pass. Fibre reinforced polymer has an organic resin matrix that pyrolyses, flames and loses mass, so it fails EN ISO 1182 as it fails AS 1530.1 and ASTM E136. That is a property of the material class, not a shortcoming of a particular formulation, and fire retardant additives do not change it. FRP is classified instead by the single burning item test and the small flame test, reaching Class B at best, and by full-scale facade tests where the code requires them.
ShapeShell-RC, the glass fibre reinforced concrete system, is Not Deemed Combustible under AS/NZS 1530.1, tested by Ignis Labs; a European project would need the EN ISO 1182 test in its own right. ShapeShell-RT, the fibre reinforced polymer system, is combustible and is never described as non-combustible. It is classified B-s2,d0 under EN 13501-1 by Intertek Testing Services, holds an AS 5637 Group 1 classification from AWTA Product Testing, and passed the full-scale BS 8414 and AS 5113 test at BRE Global.
Standards and references
- EN ISO 1182 Reaction to fire tests for products: non-combustibility test
- EN ISO 1716 Reaction to fire tests for products: determination of the gross heat of combustion (calorific value)
- EN 13501-1 Fire classification of construction products and building elements, Part 1: classification using data from reaction to fire tests
- EN 13823 Single burning item test, required in addition for Class A2
- AS 1530.1 (Australia), ASTM E136 and ASTM E2652 (United States), CAN/ULC S114 (Canada)
- Construction Products Regulation (EU) 305/2011, under which the class is declared
Related terms
Questions specifiers ask
What is the difference between Class A1 and Class A2?
A1 requires both EN ISO 1182 and EN ISO 1716 at tight limits and is the European expression of non-combustibility. A2 is limited combustibility: it can be reached through either test at relaxed limits and must also pass the single burning item test EN 13823.
What are the EN ISO 1182 pass criteria?
For Class A1, mean furnace temperature rise not more than 30 °C, no sustained flaming and mass loss not more than 50 percent. For Class A2, temperature rise not more than 50 °C, sustained flaming not more than 20 seconds and the same mass loss limit.
Is EN ISO 1182 the same test as AS 1530.1?
No. Both are furnace tests at about 750 °C, but the specimen geometry, criteria, permitted flaming and treatment of mass loss differ, and neither result is accepted in place of the other by the corresponding code.
Can FRP achieve Class A1 or A2?
No. Fibre reinforced polymer has an organic resin matrix that burns and loses mass, so it cannot pass EN ISO 1182. Class B is the best a polymer composite normally reaches, determined by the single burning item and small flame tests.
Does an EN ISO 1182 result work for an Australian project?
Not for Deemed-to-Satisfy compliance. The NCC requires AS 1530.1. A European result is useful supporting evidence for a fire engineer but does not satisfy the prescriptive provision.
ShapeShell fire data is published test by test and body by body, so the right result can be matched to the right jurisdiction. See ShapeShell fire test data
Reviewed by Richard Halvorsen, General Manager, ShapeShift Technologies. Last updated September 2026.