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JohnPeters Posted: Sep 28, 2009 08:51 AM	ALL foam insulation needs to be covered by an ignition barrier? Mason, So the AY-377 got smacked on the industry and all foam insulation systems now need to be covered by an ignition barrier. Or not? You may have noticed the recent press release from La Polla highlighting the passing of their FL2000 product for the modified NFPA 286 without a prescriptive ignition barrier. How is this possible? Better chemistry? Fudging the test results? If this is legit, we have a company with a serious competitive advantage over the other players in the industry. Please help in clearing this up. La Polla here I come???? jp
mason Posted: Sep 28, 2009 12:28 PM	John, The building codes require an ignition barrier for all foam plastics in attics and crawl spaces. But, there are exceptions based on room corner fire tests, specific to the application such as but not limited to UL 1715 FM 4880, UBC 26-3, NFPA 286 and others. The acceptance criteria 377 specifically lists a test method that was recently approved as a room corner test that may be used to evaluate sprayfoam applications in attics and crawlspaces. It is up to the ICC Evaluation Services engineers to review the test data from the tests to determine if the foam plastic tested can be used with or without an ignition barrier (or another type of covering such as an intumescent coating). I haven;t seen the La Polla notice or reviewed the test results, so I can't comment on their press release. Have they been issued a revised ICC evaluation report? If so, that would let you know under what circumstances it could be used with or without a prescriptive ignition barrier. But it sounds reasonable that under certain circumstances that the foam would not flash as much,and may pass (floor applications?) .

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JohnPeters

Posted: Sep 28, 2009 08:51 AM

ALL foam insulation needs to be covered by an ignition barrier?

Mason,

So the AY-377 got smacked on the industry and all foam insulation systems now need to be covered by an ignition barrier.

Or not?

You may have noticed the recent press release from La Polla highlighting the passing of their FL2000 product for the modified NFPA 286 without a prescriptive ignition barrier.

How is this possible? Better chemistry? Fudging the test results? If this is legit, we have a company with a serious competitive advantage over the other players in the industry.

Please help in clearing this up.

La Polla here I come????

jp

mason

Posted: Sep 28, 2009 12:28 PM

John,

The building codes require an ignition barrier for all foam plastics in attics and crawl spaces. But, there are exceptions based on room corner fire tests, specific to the application such as but not limited to UL 1715 FM 4880, UBC 26-3, NFPA 286 and others.

The acceptance criteria 377 specifically lists a test method that was recently approved as a room corner test that may be used to evaluate sprayfoam applications in attics and crawlspaces. It is up to the ICC Evaluation Services engineers to review the test data from the tests to determine if the foam plastic tested can be used with or without an ignition barrier (or another type of covering such as an intumescent coating). I haven;t seen the La Polla notice or reviewed the test results, so I can't comment on their press release.

Have they been issued a revised ICC evaluation report? If so, that would let you know under what circumstances it could be used with or without a prescriptive ignition barrier.

But it sounds reasonable that under certain circumstances that the foam would not flash as much,and may pass (floor applications?)

.

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