The first priority in specifying any fire protection is making sure the treatment will perform when required.

With a choice of pressure impregnation treatments or coating systems for the protection of timber and plywood against fire you need to consider the following key questions.

Will coating products deliver the protection you expect? Recent independent testing of some fire retardant coating products that claim to upgrade timber to achieve either a Euroclass B or C rating (BS EN 13501-1) have proved to only give a Euroclasss D rating – the equivalent of untreated timber! Pressure impregnated fire retardant treatments for timber are industrially applied and carefully monitored to achieve the protection level required for your specific project in terms of species and thickness of timber involved.

How long will the fire protection last? Pressure impregnated treatments provide a one-off protection to all faces that will last the lifetime of the timbers. No maintenance is required. Any coating system will need regular and reliable maintenance and once installed accessing the reverse of claddings and panels for this maintenance will be difficult.

In the ‘real life’ of the building are coatings cost effective? Although the initial application of coating systems may seem cheaper and quicker, they will need to be maintained approximately every 5 years. This maintenance work will add regular costs to the life of the building and cannot be assured in terms of a thorough and professional application.

Lonza Wood Protection offers two proven and industry approved pressure impregnated fire retardant treatments, DRICON and NON-COM Exterior that will give you total confidence.

- Over 40 years commercial experience on major building projects
- UK Wood Protection Association approved treatments
- Independently tested to give Euroclass Certification Reports for individual timber and plywood species and thicknesses
- Controlled and cost effective treatments from Lonza’s own ISO 9001 accredited facilities
- Fully compliant with European FR durability standard TS 15912