Fibre Reinforced Facade Encyclopedia: Testing and standards
Fire rated cladding is a widely used phrase that does not correspond to any test, classification or code provision. There is no standard that issues a fire rating to a cladding panel. Cladding materials are classified by reaction to fire, external wall systems are assessed by full-scale facade tests, and only building elements such as walls, floors and doors are rated for fire resistance, in minutes. The phrase survives because it is a convenient shorthand for four different requirements, and the useful thing to know is which of the four is meant in any given sentence.
Ask a supplier for fire rated cladding and you can be sent a combustibility report, a group number certificate, a European class, a full-scale facade test or a wall assembly rating. Only one of those is a rating, and it belongs to the wall rather than to the cladding.
At a glance
| Property | Typical value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| What people usually mean | One of four different results | The phrase itself is not a result |
| Meaning 1: the material will not burn | Non-combustible to AS 1530.1, EN ISO 1182 or ASTM E136 | A material property |
| Meaning 2: the material burns slowly | Group 1 to 4 under AS 5637.1, Class A1 to F under EN 13501-1, Class A to C under ASTM E84 | A reaction-to-fire grade |
| Meaning 3: the system will not carry fire up the facade | AS 5113 EW classification, BS 8414 with BR 135, NFPA 285 | A system test |
| Meaning 4: the wall holds fire back for a set time | Fire resistance level in minutes, for example 90/90/90 or -/60/60 | An assembly property, AS 1530.4 |
| What a cladding panel can hold | Meanings 1, 2 and 3 | Never meaning 4 on its own |
| Where the confusion costs time | Tender responses, substitution requests, certifier review, insurance | Wrong document, request reissued |
Why there is no such thing as a rating for a panel
A fire resistance level is the outcome of loading a full-size building element into a furnace and running the standard time and temperature curve against one face until it fails. The result records how long the element kept its structural adequacy, its integrity against flame and hot gas, and its insulating effect. Nothing about that test can be performed on a cladding panel in isolation, because a panel is not an element that separates one part of a building from another. It is a skin on the outside of something else.
Reaction-to-fire tests, by contrast, are performed on materials and products, and produce descriptions rather than durations: combustible or not, Group 1 to 4, Class A1 to F, Class A to C. None of those is expressed in minutes and none of them is a rating in the sense the Code uses the word. The distinction is set out in full on the reaction to fire versus fire resistance page.
Working out which meaning is intended
In an Australian project, a request for fire rated cladding on a Type A or Type B building almost always means meaning 1: the external wall must be non-combustible under the Deemed-to-Satisfy provisions, so the panel needs an AS 1530.1 result of Not Deemed Combustible. If the project team has already accepted a combustible material, it means meaning 3: the system needs an AS 5113 classification to support a Performance Solution.
Inside the building, the same phrase usually means meaning 2: a wall or ceiling lining has to meet a group number under Specification 7. In a document that also mentions a spandrel, a shaft, a lift lobby or a boundary wall, it means meaning 4, and the requirement belongs to the wall behind the cladding rather than to the cladding itself.
On an overseas project the phrase carries local baggage. In the United Kingdom it usually means A2-s1,d0 or better under EN 13501-1, or a BS 8414 test classified to BR 135. In the United States it usually means ASTM E84 Class A plus, for combustible components above the height threshold, NFPA 285 on the assembly.
Writing the requirement so it is approved first time
- Replace fire rated cladding with the test and the required result, for example: panels shall be Not Deemed Combustible when tested to AS 1530.1
- Where a combustible cladding is contemplated, state the Performance Solution route and require the AS 5113 classification report for the system as detailed
- State any fire resistance level in its own clause, name the element that carries it, and name the test standard
- Require reports rather than certificates, and require the field of application so substitutions can be checked against it
- Say who is responsible for the fire engineer’s report and when it is due
What a certifier does with the phrase
A building certifier or fire engineer reviewing a facade submission is looking for specific evidence against specific clauses: the combustibility position of each material in the external wall, the concessions relied on for any component that is not non-combustible, the classification of any lining, and for a Performance Solution the full-scale test report and the fire engineering assessment that uses it. A claim of fire rated cladding maps to none of those, so the submission comes back with a request for the underlying report. Precision at specification stage removes an entire round of correspondence.
What the ShapeShell systems can honestly be described as
ShapeShell-RC, the glass fibre reinforced concrete system, is non-combustible cladding: it holds an AS/NZS 1530.1 result of Not Deemed Combustible from Ignis Labs. That is meaning 1 and it satisfies the Deemed-to-Satisfy requirement for the panel.
ShapeShell-RT, the fibre reinforced polymer system, is not non-combustible and is not described that way. It holds an AS 5637 Group 1 classification from AWTA Product Testing, an EN 13501-1 classification of B-s2 from Intertek, and a full-scale BS 8414 and AS 5113 test at BRE Global in which it met all AS 5113 criteria. That is meanings 2 and 3, and it is the evidence a fire engineer uses for a Performance Solution.
Neither system carries a fire resistance level, because neither is a wall. Where the design needs an FRL, it is delivered by the wall construction behind the rainscreen and is documented against AS 1530.4.
Standards and references
- AS 1530.1 (combustibility), AS 1530.3 (early fire hazard indices), AS 5637.1 (group number)
- AS 1530.4 (fire resistance tests for building elements, the source of an FRL)
- AS 5113:2016 (external wall full-scale test) and NCC 2022 Volume One C1V3 (check the edition adopted in your jurisdiction)
- NCC 2022 Volume One C2D10 and Specification 7
- EN 13501-1 and EN 13501-2 (Europe and UK); BS 8414 with BR 135
- ASTM E84, ASTM E136, ASTM E119 and NFPA 285 (United States)
Related terms
Questions specifiers ask
Is there such a thing as fire rated cladding?
Not as a test result. Cladding materials are classified for reaction to fire and external wall systems are assessed by full-scale tests. A fire rating, or fire resistance level, belongs to a wall, floor or door assembly measured in minutes under AS 1530.4.
What should I write in a specification instead?
Name the test and the result: Not Deemed Combustible to AS 1530.1 for a non-combustible panel, a group number to AS 5637.1 for a lining, an AS 5113 classification for a system on a Performance Solution, and a fire resistance level against AS 1530.4 for the wall.
Can cladding have a two hour fire rating?
The wall behind it can. A two hour rating, or in Australian terms an FRL such as 120/120/120, is achieved by a tested assembly. A rainscreen panel in front of that wall is classified by reaction to fire, not rated in hours.
Is Group 1 a fire rating?
No. Group 1 is the best classification for a wall or ceiling lining under AS 5637.1, based on how quickly a room fire grows. It is a reaction-to-fire result, not a duration, and it does not by itself permit a material on the external wall of a Type A or B building.
Is ShapeShell-RT fire rated?
ShapeShell-RT is not described as fire rated. It holds an AS 5637 Group 1 classification from AWTA Product Testing, an EN 13501-1 class of B-s2 from Intertek, and a BS 8414 and AS 5113 test at BRE Global meeting all AS 5113 criteria. It is an FRP product and is not non-combustible.
Every ShapeShell fire result is published against the standard that produced it and the laboratory that issued it, so the right document goes in the right clause. See ShapeShell fire test data
Reviewed by Richard Halvorsen, General Manager, ShapeShift Technologies. Last updated September 2026.