ACCORDING TO THE DM 15 AUGUST 2015 – DM 12 APRIL 2019 AND DM 18 OCTOBER 2019
The materials we use to furnish our business, like all the other materials that will be present within it, contribute in a more or less significant way to combustion in the event of a fire.
For this reason, the materials are classified for their reaction to fire, so that we can choose those that will be safest to include in the context of our activity.
The choice of materials is very important to counteract or reduce the damage of a possible fire: the higher the risk of our activity, the more necessary it will be to use materials that do not contribute to the fire, in order to ensure the occupants’ safe and efficient exodus. emergency services to intervene without danger to their health.
The reference legislation in force for fire prevention is the “Fire Prevention Code” or the technical standards for fire prevention referred to in Annex 1 to the Ministerial Decree of 3 August 2015 and subsequent amendments and additions
ECOGYM class E floor
MATERIAL CLASSES
As indicated by the fire prevention code in chapter S1, where the reaction to fire of the materials present within the activity is evaluated, we find a classification of materials into groups called GM0, GM1, GM2, GM3, GM4, which each collect both materials classified according to the Italian and European classification systems with similar fire behavior within the same group.
OUTRACE class C floor
REACTION TO FIRE: reaction to fire is a passive protection fire measure that has its main effects in the initial phase of the fire, with the aim of limiting the ignition of materials and the spread of the fire. It refers to the fire behavior of materials in actual final use conditions, with particular regard to the degree of participation in fire that they demonstrate in standardized test conditions.
SIDEA has a wide range of floorings classified for fire resistance purposes, suitable for every situation and for every activity, in particular it has materials classified as GM4 (class E), GM3 (class C) and GM2 (class B).
HOW CAN I UNDERSTAND WHICH MATERIALS AND FLOORS I CAN USE IN MY GYM?
The Ministerial Decree of 3 August 2015 works through the so-called “performance levels”, which in this case, in chapter S1 regarding the reaction to fire, depend entirely on the level of Life Risk we have in our activity, it represents the type of occupants and the combustion speed of the elements present within the activity.
In the case of a gym the type of occupants we will have will always be “in a waking state who are not familiar with the building”, so you type B, and we will have a burning rate of materials that will vary between slow (1) and medium (2), we can therefore conclude that in an activity of this type we can only have two types of life risk: B1 or B2.*
Let’s therefore analyze the two possible cases for a gym.
In chapter S.1 of the ministerial decree of 3 August 2015 we find a distinction regarding the materials that can be used along the escape routes and those that can be used in the rest of the activity.
In both cases the code offers us 4 performance levels of which we will take into consideration level II and level III for table S.1-2 regarding escape routes
while for the materials to be used in the rest of the activity, indicated in table s.1-3 we will take into consideration levels I and II
*The difference between a life risk included in B1 and B2 lies in the fire load, therefore it depends on what is kept inside the gym (equipment and materials thereof) and whether therefore the combustion of the materials is considered to be at a “medium” or “slow”. This is an assessment that is made by the fire safety designer during the project phase and therefore cannot be made independently by the employer (unless he has the skills).
PALESTRA CON RISCHIO VITA COLLOCATO IN B1:
in this first case, for the escape routes we will be able to use materials classified as GM3 and in particular, among the floorings classified for reaction to fire Sidea, they can be used:
- 9190 OUTRACE RUBBER FLOOR
- 9191 ECOFIT RUBBER FLOOR
Both class C (GM3)
While for the rest of the activity we have no constraints for the classification of the materials used, therefore we can remain on the same ones indicated above or we can also use the flooring
- 9201 ECOGYM CLASS E
PALESTRA CON RISCHIO VITA COLLOCATO IN B2:
- 9193 ECOFIT RUBBER FLOOR CLASS B
while for the rest of the activity materials classified as GM3 (class C).
Eleonora Torregiani, Fire prevention technician