Fire safety

Fire in your building. Whether you are a user, builder or designer, fire is something you really do not want to have anything to do with. So it is logical that there are many requirements designed to prevent fires starting and to limit their consequences if they do start. Here, facades and roofs play an important role. The choice of material is also important for fire-safe building.

Reaction to fire classes

EN 13501-1 defines 7 Euro Fire classes, being: A1, A2, B, C, D, E and F. Class A1 (incombustible) is the highest and with it the safest class. Fire classes E and F are very combustible and are not allowed to be used in the Netherlands. There are three smoke classes defined: s1, s2 and s3. Smoke class s1 gives the least smoke. When d0 is appended, it means that no burning droplets will be released.

The basic requirement in the Netherlands is class D. However, facades higher than 13 metres must meet at least class B, which is also the case for the bottom 2.5 metres of facades, if the hall has a floor at a height greater than 5 metres. In the Netherlands, the maximum smoke class is s2 for the inside of buildings. But please check the regulations of the country your project is located.

We have good documentation and certificates for the SAB products, so it is immediately clear which products you can choose for which fire class.

  • SAB sandwich panels are classified as B-s2, d0 and therefore meet the
    requirements for almost every application. Except the ECO panels.
  • A system of SAB structural liner trays, mineral wool and a steel profiled cladding even meets non-combustibility (Class A).

Fire resistance

The resistance to fire penetration of the facade is the degree to which the facade can stop
the spread of fire from inside to outside or from outside to inside for a certain time.

  • EW-30 means a resistance to fire penetration of 30 minutes.
  • EI-30 means a resistance to fire penetration of 30 minutes including a temperature criterion.
    This is important to prevent fire spreading from outside to inside.

For the complete overview of all SAB sandwich panels, see the table below, which also states for which span the fire resistance applies.

Efectis reports

Fire tests have been carried out by the recognized research agency Efectis for various types of SAB sandwich panels and construction systems with SAB liner boxes, insulation and SAB façade profile plates. The reports of the construction systems are from our insulation partners Isover and Rockwool. All fire reports are included in the downloads.

FR series

We have recently had the improved SAB WB 100.1000, the SAB D 90.1000 TL and the SAB Carrier tested for fire resistance by Efectis, with impressive results. These panels come within the FR series

SAB sandwich panels are fire safe thanks to the use of PIR foam with a unique formulation. The fire resistance is indicated on the certificates as EI15, EI20, EI30, EW30, EW60 etc. Because the class also depends on the span, we have renamed the entire series of fire-resistant panels the SAB FR panels. ‘FR’ here stands for Fire Resistance.

FM Approval

FM Global is the world’s largest insurer of industrial buildings. To limit the risk of loss, FM Global has its own test facilities in America. Here building materials are certified with respect to wind, hail and fire. For insured safety, you can combine SAB sandwich panels with SAB deep decks, both including a FM-approval.


The sandwich panels SAB WB-FA and SAB W-FA from production location Nieuwegein are certified for FM standards 4880 and 4881. The deep decks SAB FA 135R/930, SAB FA 153R/840, SAB FA 158R/750, and SAB FA 200R/750 comply to FM standard 4451. SAB-profiel has been the first manufacturer in the Benelux producing roof decks with a FM-approval. All FM approval certificates can be downloaded here.

UL(C) Approval

Our UL(C) certificate is according to the following safety standards:

  • ANSI/UL 723, Standard Test for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials
  • CAN/ULC-S102 – Standard Method of Test for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials and Assemblies

Composite panels SAB WB 60-140 and SAB W 40-60-80.