§ 38. Sir John Tilneyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the arrangements in the United Kingdom for fire testing and marketing plastic materials used in building construction so as to make their flammability readily apparent to suppliers, users and purchasers.
§ Mr. ChannonFire testing in the United Kingdom of plastic materials used in building construction is carried out at the request of manufacturers by the Joint Fire Research Organisation and other testing laboratories. The Agrement Board tests plastics materials for their general suitability for use in buildings and publishes certificates setting out the results of its assessment.
There are no arrangements for marking plastic materials other than those devised by individual manufacturers. However, the marking of plastics to indicate the flammability of the material per se would not provide a complete safeguard because behaviour in fire depends on the way in which the material is used in a building. This problem is at present under consideration by my Department.