Flammability Testing

Aluminium Panel Flammability Testing

Testing the combustibility of a building material to AS 1530.1 is involved and time consuming. Because of this and due to high demand, BCRC has developed a quick and cost effective test method to assess flammability risk of composite façade panels.

The approach is based on chemical and temperature testing and allows BCRC’s materials scientists to determine the flammability risk of the polymer core infill layer of aluminium composite panels. The tested panels are given a flammability rating based on the Insurance Council of Australia classifications in a BCRC test report.

A sample of aluminium composite panel taken from a building, identified as being a high flammability risk.

The June 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster in England tragically highlighted the increasing risks of non-compliant, highly flammable aluminium composite panels, manufactured cheaply offshore, being unknowingly installed on the facades of medium and high rise buildings. This real and present danger is, unfortunately, as high a risk here in Australia as it is in England.