Fire-Resistance and Sound-Insulation Ratings for Walls, Partitions, and Floors.
Fire-Resistance and Sound-Insulation Ratings for Walls,
Partitions, and Floors.
(3548 K)
National Bureau of Standards
TRBM 44; 52 p. 1944.
Keywords:
fire resistance rating; insulation; walls; partitions;
floors; building construction
Abstract:
In the construction of buildings, particularly those of
the residential type, partition and floor constructions
should provide safety to life from the spread of fire
and should reduce transmitted sounds and objectional
noises to inaudible levels. The ability of a
construction to prevent the spread of fire may be
expressed in periods of fire resistance, that is, the
time for which the construction may be exposed to a fire
of a standard intensity without collapse, passage of
flame, or the transmission of heat sufficient to cause
ignition of combustible material. The sound insulation
may be measured by the decrease in intensity of the
sound as it travels through the wall. This paper gives
the fire-resistance and sound-insulation ratings of
walls, partitions, and floors. Most of the
fire-resistance ratings are based on tests made at the
National Bureau of Standards. Some are based on tests
made at Underwriters' Laboratories or at Ohio State
University. All of the sound-insulation ratings are
based on tests made at the National Bureau of Standards.
The detailed results of many of the fire tests of wood-
and metal-framed partitions have been published in
Building Materials and Structures Report BMS 71, "Fire
Tests of Wood- and Metal-Framed Partitions." The
details of the sound-insulation tests are given in
Building Materials and Structures Report BMS 44, "Sound
Insulation of Wall and Floor Construction", and
Supplemental. Since the present objective is to present
information of value in selecting or designing
constructions suitable for use as subdivisions between
family units in multiple dwellings, those having
fire-resistance ratings of less than 1/2 hr are not
included. The ratings are applicable to walls and
floors in other types of buildings.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899