Fibre Reinforced Facade Encyclopedia: Testing and standards
CAN/ULC-S114 is the Canadian furnace test that determines whether a building material is noncombustible. A small specimen is held in a vertical tube furnace at about 750 °C and observed for temperature rise, flaming and mass loss, and the National Building Code of Canada defines a noncombustible material as one that meets the acceptance criteria of this standard. It is the Canadian member of the same family as AS 1530.1 in Australia, EN ISO 1182 in Europe and ASTM E136 in the United States.
All four furnace tests ask the same question and none of them accepts another’s answer. The Canadian code says noncombustible means meeting CAN/ULC-S114, so an Australian AS 1530.1 report, however good, is not a Canadian noncombustibility classification.
At a glance
| Property | Typical value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | CAN/ULC-S114 Standard Method of Test for Determination of Non-Combustibility in Building Materials | Underwriters Laboratories of Canada |
| Furnace temperature | About 750 °C | Vertical tube furnace |
| Specimen | Small prismatic or cylindrical specimen cut from the product as supplied | Several specimens tested |
| Measured | Furnace and specimen temperature rise, duration of flaming, mass loss | |
| Result | Noncombustible or not | No graded scale |
| Code definition | National Building Code of Canada, noncombustible means meeting CAN/ULC-S114 | Division B definitions |
| Where required | Buildings required to be of noncombustible construction | NBC Subsection 3.1.5 |
| Equivalents elsewhere | AS 1530.1, EN ISO 1182, ASTM E136 | Similar in principle, not interchangeable in law |
| Materials that typically pass | Concrete, GRC, steel, glass, mineral wool, gypsum products | Product specific, and coatings can change the result |
| Materials that cannot pass | FRP and other polymer composites, timber, polyethylene cored panels | Classified by other tests |
The method
The apparatus is a vertical tube furnace stabilised at approximately 750 °C. A conditioned and weighed specimen is lowered into the furnace on a holder and held there while thermocouples record the furnace temperature and the temperature of the specimen. An observer records any flaming and its duration, and the specimen is reweighed afterwards to determine mass loss. Several specimens are tested and the material is judged on the set.
The acceptance criteria are expressed in the same three terms as the other furnace tests: a limit on how much the specimen raises the temperature, a limit on how long it may flame, and in some variants a limit on mass loss.
The severity of the test is the point. It does not ask whether a material contributes usefully or harmfully to a real fire; it asks whether the material can burn at all. Anything with an organic binder, a polymer matrix or a combustible facing will fail, regardless of how well it performs in a reaction to fire test.
How Canada uses the result
The National Building Code of Canada requires certain buildings, determined by occupancy, height and area, to be of noncombustible construction. Within those buildings, structural elements and the materials of assemblies must be noncombustible as defined by S114, subject to a list of permitted exceptions in Subsection 3.1.5. Those exceptions are what allow combustible roofing, flooring, interior finish within limits, and combustible cladding where the assembly passes CAN/ULC-S134.
The structure will be familiar to an Australian reader. The NCC likewise requires non-combustible external walls for Type A and Type B construction, lists materials deemed non-combustible without test, and allows a performance solution where a combustible material is proposed. The mechanisms differ in detail but the logic is the same: a small scale furnace test sets the default, and a full-scale assembly test provides the alternative.
What it does not cover
- Fire resistance. That is ASTM E119 or CAN/ULC-S101, a furnace test of a whole assembly reported in hours, and it is a different property entirely.
- Surface burning characteristics. Canada uses CAN/ULC-S102 to obtain a flame spread rating and a smoke developed classification for interior finishes and for the prescriptive cladding limits.
- Facade behaviour. Full-scale exterior wall performance is CAN/ULC-S134, which is where combustible cladding assemblies are qualified.
- Systems. S114 is a material test. Fixings, insulation, membranes, cavity barriers and sealants in the wall each need their own consideration.
Where composite facade materials land
A cementitious panel such as GRC is the kind of product that can pass a furnace test, because its matrix is inorganic and its reinforcement is alkali resistant glass fibre with a softening point well above the furnace temperature. ShapeShell-RC, the ShapeShift GRC system, carries an AS/NZS 1530.1 result of Not Deemed Combustible from Ignis Labs. That is the Australian classification; the Canadian market question would be answered by a CAN/ULC-S114 test.
A fibre reinforced polymer panel cannot pass any furnace test, in Canada or anywhere else, because the matrix is an organic resin. ShapeShell-RT is an FRP system and is not non-combustible. Its evidence is reaction to fire and full-scale: an AS 5637 Group 1 classification from AWTA Product Testing, a pass of the full-scale BS 8414 and AS 5113 facade test at BRE Global, and an EN 13501-1 classification of B-s2,d0 from Intertek Testing Services.
Standards and references
- CAN/ULC-S114 Standard Method of Test for Determination of Non-Combustibility in Building Materials
- National Building Code of Canada, Division B, Subsection 3.1.5 and the definition of noncombustible
- CAN/ULC-S134 exterior wall assemblies; CAN/ULC-S102 surface burning characteristics; CAN/ULC-S101 fire endurance
- AS 1530.1, EN ISO 1182 and ASTM E136 as the equivalent furnace tests
- ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation of the testing laboratory
Related terms
Questions specifiers ask
What does CAN/ULC-S114 test?
Whether a material is noncombustible, by holding a small specimen in a vertical tube furnace at about 750 °C and measuring temperature rise, flaming and mass loss.
Is an AS 1530.1 result accepted in Canada?
Not as a Canadian classification. The National Building Code of Canada defines noncombustible by reference to CAN/ULC-S114, so the Canadian test is required.
Can FRP pass CAN/ULC-S114?
No. Fibre reinforced polymer has an organic resin matrix and cannot pass any furnace combustibility test. It is classified by reaction to fire tests and full-scale wall tests instead.
Is noncombustible the same as fire rated?
No. Noncombustibility is a material property from a furnace test. A fire resistance rating is a property of a whole assembly, measured in hours under CAN/ULC-S101 or ASTM E119.
How is combustible cladding permitted in Canada?
Either within prescriptive limits on flame spread rating, thickness and height, or where the complete wall assembly passes the full-scale CAN/ULC-S134 test.
ShapeShell-RC is Not Deemed Combustible under AS/NZS 1530.1, tested by Ignis Labs, for projects where non-combustibility is the requirement. See ShapeShell-RC specifications
Reviewed by Richard Halvorsen, General Manager, ShapeShift Technologies. Last updated September 2026.