Fibre Reinforced Facade Encyclopedia: Testing and standards
Third party certification is the assessment of a building product against a stated set of requirements by an independent body that is itself accredited to do the work, resulting in a certificate that a building surveyor or authority will accept as evidence of suitability. CodeMark in Australia, BBA Agrement certificates in the United Kingdom and ICC-ES evaluation reports in the United States are the three schemes a facade specifier meets most often.
A test report records what happened to a named set of specimens on a named day. A certificate asserts that the product, as manufactured on a continuing basis, meets a stated requirement, and it is backed by surveillance of the factory. Those are different assurances and one cannot be substituted for the other.
At a glance
| Property | Typical value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Australian scheme | CodeMark Australia | Administered by the ABCB; certificates issued by JAS-ANZ accredited certification bodies |
| UK schemes | BBA Agrement certificate; UKCA or CE marking | Certification bodies accredited by UKAS |
| US scheme | ICC-ES evaluation report (ESR) | Assessed against published ICC-ES Acceptance Criteria |
| Laboratory accreditation | ISO/IEC 17025 | General requirements for the competence of testing laboratories |
| Product certification accreditation | ISO/IEC 17065 | Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services |
| NCC status | A CodeMark certificate is a listed form of evidence of suitability | NCC 2022 Volume One Part A5; check the edition adopted in your jurisdiction |
| Typical certificate term | 3 to 5 years, subject to ongoing surveillance | Certificates are also suspended and withdrawn |
| Minimum verification | Current entry on the scheme register, matching product name and scope | The certificate file on its own is not verification |
Three documents that are not the same thing
A test report is a factual record issued by a laboratory. It names a method, a specimen, a date and a result, and says nothing about anything else the manufacturer makes. An assessment or opinion report is a reasoned extension of test evidence to a variation that was not tested, signed by a competent person; it is an argument, and its strength depends on how close the variation is to the tested build-up. A certificate of conformity is issued by a product certification body and asserts that production conforms, on a continuing basis, to the requirements the certificate names.
Certification sits on top of test reports, because the certification body needs evidence before it can certify anything. What it adds is initial factory inspection, a documented factory production control system, periodic surveillance audits, and a scheme owner who can suspend or withdraw the certificate when the product or the factory changes.
CodeMark, BBA and ICC-ES
CodeMark Australia is administered by the Australian Building Codes Board. Certificates are issued by certification bodies accredited by JAS-ANZ to ISO/IEC 17065 and are listed by the NCC as a form of evidence that a material or system meets a Performance Requirement or a Deemed-to-Satisfy Provision. A valid CodeMark certificate must be accepted by the building surveyor for the use and the conditions it states, which is exactly why the scope section of the certificate matters more than the front page.
BBA Agrement certificates are issued by the British Board of Agrement, accredited by UKAS, and cover the product in defined end uses with a stated durability assessment. In Europe and the UK a harmonised product standard or a European Technical Assessment leads instead to a declaration of performance and CE or UKCA marking, which is a manufacturer declaration supported by a notified body rather than a third party certificate in the CodeMark sense.
ICC-ES evaluation reports address products that fall outside the prescriptive text of the International Building Code. The evaluation is made against a published Acceptance Criteria document, which sets out exactly what testing and analysis the product must present. An ESR is the practical route to getting a fibre reinforced polymer facade product accepted by a US authority having jurisdiction under the alternative materials provision.
What a certificate does not prove
- It does not prove performance outside the scope printed on it. A certificate for a panel at 12 mm in a drained cavity says nothing about the same panel at 8 mm direct fixed.
- It does not prove the installed system complies. Fixings, substructure, cavity barriers, insulation and sealants are part of the external wall and each is subject to its own provisions.
- It does not replace the underlying test evidence. Ask for the reports the certificate relies on, and read them.
- It does not stay true. Registers carry suspended and withdrawn certificates, cladding products among them. A certificate downloaded two years ago proves nothing today.
- It does not make a combustible material non-combustible. Certification records a tested classification; it does not upgrade one.
How to check a claim in ten minutes
Start with the register, not the document. CodeMark certificates are listed on the ABCB register, BBA certificates on the BBA site, and ICC-ES reports on the ICC-ES site; confirm the certificate number is current and has not been suspended. Then read the scope: product name, trade name, thickness, substrate, fixing method, and the Performance Requirements or code sections covered. Compare that scope line by line against what is actually proposed for the project.
Then go behind the certificate to the tests. Every fire claim should name the standard, the edition and the laboratory, and the laboratory should hold accreditation for that method. A claim such as tested to Australian standards, with no method number, no report number and no laboratory, is not evidence and should be rejected at submission review rather than at handover.
How ShapeShift’s evidence is structured
ShapeShift publishes test evidence by product and by standard rather than a single blanket claim. ShapeShell-RC, the GRC system, has an AS/NZS 1530.1 result of Not Deemed Combustible from Ignis Labs. ShapeShell-RT, the FRP system, holds an AS 5637 Group 1 classification from AWTA Product Testing, passed the full-scale BS 8414 and AS 5113 facade test at BRE Global, and is classified B-s2,d0 under EN 13501-1 by Intertek Testing Services. ShapeShell-RT is a polymer composite and is not non-combustible; its compliance route is reaction to fire and full-scale testing, not combustibility.
Standards and references
- ISO/IEC 17025 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories
- ISO/IEC 17065 Conformity assessment: requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services
- CodeMark Australia Scheme Rules (ABCB); JAS-ANZ accreditation
- NCC 2022 Volume One Part A5 Documentation of design and construction, evidence of suitability (check the edition adopted in your jurisdiction)
- ICC-ES Acceptance Criteria and Evaluation Reports; IBC alternative materials, design and methods provision
- BBA Agrement certification; UKCA and CE marking under the applicable designated standard
Related terms
Questions specifiers ask
Is a CodeMark certificate compulsory?
No. It is one of several forms of evidence of suitability the NCC accepts. A test report from an accredited laboratory, or a certificate from a professional engineer, can also be used, but a valid CodeMark certificate must be accepted by the certifier within its stated scope.
What is the difference between a test report and a certificate?
A test report records a result for specific specimens on a specific date. A certificate asserts continuing conformity of production and is backed by factory surveillance, so it can be suspended or withdrawn.
Does certification mean the cladding system complies?
No. Certification covers the product within its stated scope. The external wall as built includes fixings, substructure, insulation, cavity barriers and sealants, and compliance is assessed on the whole assembly.
How do I know a laboratory is accredited?
Check the accreditation body register, NATA in Australia, UKAS in the United Kingdom, and confirm the specific test method appears within that facility’s scope of accreditation, not just the laboratory name.
Can a certificate make FRP non-combustible?
No. Non-combustibility is decided by a furnace test such as AS 1530.1 or ASTM E136, and a polymer composite cannot pass one. Certification can only record the classification a product actually holds.
ShapeShift publishes the standard, the result and the testing body for every ShapeShell fire classification, product by product. See ShapeShell fire test data
Reviewed by Richard Halvorsen, General Manager, ShapeShift Technologies. Last updated September 2026.