PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF FIRE

GM RAILING® UNI and GM TOPROLL®

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Fire protection is essential in multi-family residential buildings. The spread of fire on external facades poses a considerable risk. It is often the supposed details that decide whether a fire remains controllable or becomes a catastrophe. A critical factor in this context is the balcony, in particular the condition of the balcony railing. GM RAILING® is an all-glass railing tested in accordance with ÖNORM B 3800-5, which has proven itself in the event of fire and significantly prevents the spread of fire.

CONSTRUCTIVE PRODUCT ADVANTAGES

The transparency of an all-glass railing is a major advantage in the event of a fire: The fire is detected more quickly, especially at night. In addition, the closed design of the glass railing makes it more difficult for air to enter and for the fire to spread to higher floors. However, the decisive differences between all-glass railings only become apparent when you look at the design in detail. All-glass railings consist of laminated safety glass panes clamped into an aluminum profile at the bottom, usually made of two panes of toughened safety glass. The glass is fixed at certain points with plastic wedges. Occasionally, thin-walled rubber or PVC profiles are also used.

The GM RAILING® all-glass railing system is characterized by its bonding technique, in which the lower glass edge is fully embedded in a solid profile with fire-resistant silicone. This method prevents high temperature differences and thus delays the time at which the glass breaks. The bonding distributes loads evenly over the entire glass edge, reduces stress peaks and thus significantly increases the load-bearing capacity of the construction. Particularly in the event of fire, the side facing away from the fire retains its functionality thanks to the silicone bonding, even if the aluminum profile on the fire side becomes soft. This design solution offers significant advantages in areas at risk of fire and represents a substantial improvement in safety and durability.

TESTED GLASS-MARTE SYSTEMS

Both GM RAILING® UNI and GM TOPROLL® are tested according to the strict criteria of ÖNORM B 3800-5 - Fire behavior of building materials and components, Part 5: Fire behavior of facades. In the fire protection tests carried out by the testing, inspection and certification body of the City of Vienna, GM RAILING® UNI and GM TOPROLL® were exposed to a fire of the type that could occur when a fire escapes from a window of a completely burning room. The systems to be tested were installed in a weather-independent test stand that mimics the original installation condition and exposed to a defined fire load under natural ventilation conditions.

RESULTS OF THE FIRE PROTECTION TEST

The results speak for themselves: both GM RAILING® UNI and GM TOPROLL® performed excellently under the selected test conditions. Neither the modular glass railing system with steel substructure nor the sliding system was found by the testers to visually spread fire. In addition, no large (> 0.4 m² or > 5 kg) or burning parts of the construction fell off during the test. The temperatures between the aerated concrete wall and the substructure or the laminated safety glass panes did not rise significantly during the entire test.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION

These test results not only prove the fire resistance of the tested glass railing and sliding systems, they are also crucial for fire protection. GM RAILING® stands out here thanks to its unique design features: Thanks to the even bonding of the glass surface, the railing remains stable in the event of a fire, even in the event of enormous heat development. This offers architects, planners and building owners decisive advantages in the realization of large-scale residential construction projects.