BS 8414-1
Definition
British Standard for external wall systems: fire performance test for facade assemblies. The large-scale test that ACM-PE cladding, as installed at Grenfell Tower, would have failed. Absence of BS 8414-1 testing in the approval chain was a central Inquiry finding.
- Type
- British Standard
- Scope
- External wall system fire test
- Subject
- Facade and cladding assemblies
- Relevance
- Grenfell Tower ACM-PE cladding
- Field
- Fire investigation, building forensics
Common questions
What does a BS 8414-1 test actually assess?+
It burns a full-scale mock wall section built with the real cladding, insulation and cavity barriers to see whether fire spreads up the external face beyond a defined limit within a set time.
Why did the absence of BS 8414-1 testing matter at Grenfell Tower?+
The ACM panels with a polyethylene core installed there had not been tested as an assembled system under this standard, so their real fire-spread behaviour on a tall building had never been verified before use.
Related terms
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