Fibre Reinforced Facade Encyclopedia: Testing and standards
A fire resistance level is the grading period in minutes for which a building element continues to perform under a standard furnace fire, expressed as three numbers in a fixed order: structural adequacy, integrity, insulation. An FRL of 90/90/90 means the element met all three criteria for ninety minutes. It is determined by testing a full-size specimen to AS 1530.4, and it belongs to a complete building element such as a wall, floor, column, beam or door assembly. It does not belong to a cladding panel.
Read 90/90/90 as: the element carried its load for 90 minutes, let no flame or hot gas through for 90 minutes, and kept the unexposed face below the temperature limit for 90 minutes. Read -/60/60 as: no structural adequacy requirement because the element is non-loadbearing, 60 minutes of integrity, 60 minutes of insulation.
At a glance
| Property | Typical value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Notation | Structural adequacy / integrity / insulation, in minutes | Always in that order |
| A dash | No requirement for that criterion | -/60/60 is a non-loadbearing element |
| Standard grading periods | 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 180 and 240 minutes | Set by AS 1530.4 and used by the NCC |
| Test standard | AS 1530.4 Fire resistance tests for elements of construction | ISO 834 standard time and temperature curve |
| Integrity criteria | No sustained flaming, no gap passing the standard gauges, no ignition of a cotton pad | |
| Insulation criteria | Mean temperature rise on the unexposed face not more than 140 K, single point not more than 180 K | |
| Where required | NCC 2022 Volume One Specification 5, by Type of construction and building class | Formerly Specification C1.1 |
| European equivalent | EN 13501-2, written R / E / I, for example REI 60 | R, E and I map to the three criteria |
| US equivalent | ASTM E119 or UL 263, expressed in hours | 1, 2, 3 or 4 hour rating |
| Applies to a cladding panel | No | The wall assembly behind it carries the FRL |
What the three numbers measure
Structural adequacy is the ability of a loadbearing element to keep carrying its design load. It is measured by deflection and rate of deflection limits during the test, and a non-loadbearing element is not tested for it, which is why so many wall FRLs begin with a dash.
Integrity is the ability of a separating element to stop flames and hot gases passing through. Failure is recorded when a crack or opening lets a gap gauge through, when a cotton pad held against the unexposed face ignites, or when sustained flaming appears on the cold side.
Insulation is the ability to limit heat transmission so that combustible material on the far side does not ignite. Failure is recorded when the average temperature rise on the unexposed face exceeds 140 kelvin above the starting temperature, or when any single measuring point exceeds 180 kelvin. Insulation always fails at or before integrity in practice, which is why an FRL such as 120/120/60 is common and 60/60/120 is not.
Where the NCC sets the requirement
The required FRL for each element is set in NCC 2022 Volume One Specification 5, formerly Specification C1.1 (check the edition adopted in your jurisdiction), in tables organised by Type of construction. Type A, Type B or Type C is determined from the building’s class and its rise in storeys, with Type A the most demanding. Within each table the requirement varies by element, by building class, and for external walls by the distance to a fire source feature such as a boundary or another building on the same allotment.
Openings in an external wall bring their own provisions. Vertical separation of openings under Part C3 requires, in the buildings it applies to, a spandrel not less than 900 millimetres high extending at least 600 millimetres above the upper floor and having an FRL of not less than 60/60/60, or an equivalent horizontal projection. That requirement is the most common reason a facade contractor encounters an FRL at all, and the rating attaches to the spandrel construction rather than to the panel in front of it.
Why a cladding panel has no FRL
A fire resistance test needs a specimen that separates a furnace from a room, restrained and loaded as it will be in service, with joints, fixings and penetrations built exactly as detailed. A rainscreen panel does not do that job. It sits outside the line of fire separation, with a ventilated cavity behind it, and the wall behind the cavity is what holds the fire. Testing the panel alone would measure nothing the Code asks for.
So a glass fibre reinforced concrete panel, a fibre reinforced polymer panel, a terracotta baguette and an aluminium sheet all have no fire resistance level, and a supplier who offers one for a cladding skin has either misdescribed a reaction-to-fire result or is quoting the rating of a lining system that happens to include their product. What cladding carries instead is a reaction-to-fire classification and, where the code requires it, a full-scale facade test result for the whole system.
The exception is where the cladding is part of the tested assembly, for example a fire rated shaft wall, a fire rated ceiling membrane or a fire rated facade panel system tested complete with its framing, insulation and joints. In that case the FRL belongs to the tested assembly and applies only to the tested configuration, including the same substrate, the same fixings and the same joint detail.
Reading a fire resistance test report
- Confirm the report is to AS 1530.4 and note the edition
- Confirm which criteria were assessed; a specimen tested unloaded cannot report structural adequacy
- Check the specimen size against the field of application, since a tested height and width limit the approved height and width
- Check the direction of the fire exposure; asymmetric walls may have different FRLs from each side
- Check every component: stud gauge and spacing, board type and thickness, insulation density, fixing centres, joint treatment and any services penetrating the element
Change any of those and the FRL no longer applies. Extensions beyond the tested configuration are made by a regulatory information report or an assessment from an accredited testing body, not by inference.
FRL, group number and non-combustibility together
The three requirements are separate and a facade can attract all three at once. A wall might need an FRL of 90/90/90 because of its distance from the boundary, a non-combustible cladding under C2D10 because the building is Type A construction, and a Group 1 lining on the inside face under Specification 7. Three different tests, three different documents, three different subjects: the assembly, the material and the lining.
For ShapeShift systems this resolves cleanly. ShapeShell-RC is non-combustible under AS/NZS 1530.1, tested by Ignis Labs. ShapeShell-RT is not non-combustible; it 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. Neither system carries an FRL, and neither is offered as carrying one. Where the design needs a fire resisting wall, it is the wall construction behind the rainscreen that is tested and rated.
Standards and references
- AS 1530.4 Methods for fire tests on building materials, components and structures, Part 4: Fire-resistance tests for elements of construction
- NCC 2022 Volume One Specification 5 (fire-resisting construction, formerly Specification C1.1), Part C2 and Part C3
- AS 4072.1 (service penetrations and control joints in fire resisting separating elements)
- EN 13501-2 and EN 1363 (Europe and UK), using R, E and I notation
- ASTM E119 and UL 263 (United States); BS 476 Parts 20 to 22 (United Kingdom, legacy)
- AS 1530.1, AS 5637.1 and AS 5113 (the separate reaction-to-fire and external wall requirements)
Related terms
Questions specifiers ask
What does -/60/60 mean?
A non-loadbearing element with 60 minutes of integrity and 60 minutes of insulation. The dash means no structural adequacy requirement applies, which is normal for a non-loadbearing wall.
Does cladding have a fire resistance level?
Not on its own. An FRL is a property of a tested building element such as a wall, floor or door assembly. A rainscreen cladding panel sits outside the fire separating line and is classified by reaction to fire instead.
What is the difference between an FRL and a fire rating?
In Australia they are the same thing, and FRL is the correct term. Overseas, a fire rating is usually expressed in hours under ASTM E119 or as an REI classification under EN 13501-2.
Does a non-combustible panel give a wall an FRL?
No. Non-combustibility is a material property from a furnace test under AS 1530.1. An FRL is the outcome of testing a complete assembly to AS 1530.4. A wall can be built entirely from non-combustible materials and still have no FRL.
Do ShapeShell panels have an FRL?
No. ShapeShell-RC is non-combustible under AS/NZS 1530.1 tested by Ignis Labs, and ShapeShell-RT holds an AS 5637 Group 1 classification from AWTA Product Testing and an AS 5113 pass at BRE Global. Neither is a fire resisting element and neither carries an FRL; the wall behind the rainscreen does.
Coordinating a rainscreen with a fire rated wall behind it? ShapeShift publishes what each system is tested for, and what it is not. See ShapeShell fire test data
Reviewed by Richard Halvorsen, General Manager, ShapeShift Technologies. Last updated September 2026.