Fire Safety

Department

Engineering services and research programs on the inspection and classification of the reaction of building materials to fire as well as of the fire resistance of components

Your professional partner

We offer comprehensive consulting and support for all questions related to testing, research and development on the subject of fire behavior of building materials and fire resistance of components. As an accredited fire testing laboratory, we test and classify building products and components and prepare official certificates of usability.

The Units in our Department

Reaction to Fire

The Unit Reaction to Fire conducts test to classify the fire behavior of building materials  acc. to DIN 4102 and harmonized European testing- and product standards for classification acc. to DIN EN 13501-1 and DIN EN 13501-5 (Testing method 1).

Fire Resistance

The Unit Fire Resistance performs testing of components with emphasis on the evaluation of the fire resistance acc. to DIN 4102-2 ff. as well as to DIN EN 1363-1 ff., the latter for classification acc. to DIN EN 13501-2.

F & E Structural Hazard Engineering

The Unit Structural Hazard Engineering investigates structures exposed to hazards such as fire, impact, earthquakes and corrosion. The behavior of reinforced concrete structures as well as structures made of masonry is analyzed on both experimental and numerical front. One important aspect is the development of new materials and retrofitting/repairing methods to provide better performance under hazardous loads. The investigations will serve to provide new approaches to assess and retrofit the structural members.

Tasks and technical focus

  • Assessments, analyses and expert evidence in the fire testing area
  • Fire testing and assessment of building products, kits and building constructions, e.g. external wall claddings (ETICS), facades, floorings, wood and timber material, plastics, textiles, curtains, blinds, decoration materials, filter means, upholsteries, interior materials for motor vehicles, roofs and roofing constructions, ceilings, walls, columns, doors, fire shutters, cables, cable- and pipe shutters, glazing, safety cabinets etc.
  • Assessments, analysis and expert evidence on behalf of ministries, building authorities, industry and fire engineers
  • Development of retrofitting methods for existing buildings

 

Our services at a glance

  • Accredited and acknowledged national and notified European fire testing body
  • Third-party inspection and certification of standardized (regulated) and approved (non-regulated) building products / components in terms of structural fire safety
  • Approval tests for the fire behavior of non-regulated building products and components
  • Research and development programs for verification of new European fire testing methods and for evidence of possible comparability and safety levels of existing national fire testing methods
  • Research programs for fire assessment of various product areas such as insulating materials, floor coverings, roofs and roof constructions, coatings etc.
  • Member of European Commission research program CBUF (Combustion Behavior of Upholstered Furniture)
  • HORIZON 2020 / HOMESKIN  -  Materials for building envelope
  • HORIZON 2020 / WALL ACE  -  Wall insulation, novel nanomaterials efficient systems
  • DFG Project- Bond between steel and concrete under fire
  • Research projects on behavior of fasteners under fire
  • Research projects on behavior of concrete and masonry under fire
  • Research projects on behavior of structural members (columns, beams, beam-column joints) under fire
  • Research projects on the retrofitting of corroded flexural members
  • EU Project – Seismic assessment and retrofitting of reinforced concrete structures

MPA Fire Safety-Department is assessing the reaction to fire of building products as well as the fire resistance of components acting as

  • Accredited test laboratory acc. to EN ISO/IEC 17025 and Product Certification body acc. to DIN EN ISO/IEC 17065
  • Notified Body No 0672 listed at Commission of European Communities under Article 39 of Construction Products Regulation (EG) No 305/2011 as certification, inspection and testing (CIT) body
  • Test laboratory for essential characteristics in the fire area (CPR Annex V.3)
  • Notified national PÜZ-Stelle BWU03 to §25 LBO of building regulation LBO

Test reports, third-party control reports, conformity certificates, general building regulation certificates and approvals or expert evidences, issued by MPA Fire Safety Department, are therefore generally valid as official certificates as required by German fire regulation and building legislation

  • Providing consulting service to companies, industry, civil engineers, associations, building authorities and DIBt in terms of fire protection
  • Providing consulting service to ministries in case of approvals for special building products and components
  • Providing consulting regarding fire protection concepts and restructuring plans
  • Member of
    • ABM “Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Brandschutzlaboratorien deutscher Materialprüfanstalten“
    • SH02 (FSG) “Fire-Sector-Group“ at European Commission
    • EGOLF “European Group of Organizations for Fire Testing, Inspection and Certification"
    • RILEM TC SPF
    • Fib TG 2.5, TG 2.9
    • ACI 408, ACI 355
  • Contribution to German and European standardization boards, expert-groups and technical committees for fire testing, e.g. at Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik DIBt, DIN, CEN, ÜGPU etc.
  • In the framework of training and instruction, Fire Safety Department offers training courses for students and firemen and provides MPA demonstration experiments

Fire Safety

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© MPA

Ignitability test

Ignitability test with direct exposure to a single flame in accordance with DIN EN ISO 11925-2 on a plastic partition wall

Fire Safety

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© MPA

SBI test

Testing the fire behaviour of a single burning item - SBI (Single Burning Item) according to DIN EN 13823 on an external thermal insulation composite system

Fire Safety

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© MPA

Roof-testing

Testing the fire resistance of roofs against radiant heat and flying brands acc.to DIN 4102-7 and DIN CEN/TS 1187

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Fire resistance test

Fire resistance test of a fire-resistant glazing (5 x 4 m) according to DIN EN 1364-1

Contact

This image shows Harald Garrecht

Harald Garrecht

Prof. Dr.-Ing.

Managing Director

This image shows Stefan Wies

Stefan Wies

Dr. rer. nat.

Deputy Head of Department

 

More contacts

Department Fire Safety

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