Arch Wood Protection recently introduced FlameDXX fire-retardant OSB.
The Class A fire retardant product is factory-coated with a proprietary treatment that allows it to be used as a noncombustible material in many applications, such as for roof and wall sheathing, ceilings, soffits, and subfloors. According to the company, it corrodes metal no more than uncoated OSB.
FlameDXX complements Arch’s more expensive flame-retardant plywood treatment, Dricon, representative Julie Chaplan told Hanley Wood editors. The product can also save builders money because they will not have to install sprinklers to meet code, she added.
Arch is targeting the product for the commercial and multifamily markets, along with single-family homes in regions with stricter fire codes, such as California.–Victoria Markovitz
Tags: Fire Retardant, OSB, Wood treatments
Beware, the IBC and IRC do NOT recognize this product as a substitute for fire retardant treated wood, which it is being sold as. This product is nothing more than paint applied to one side of a sheet of OSB, and not pressure impregnated at all. Buyer beware.
I would be VERY careful about making claims that this product can be used to avoid putting fire sprinklers in a home or other building. There is NOTHING in the International Residential Code that provides that trade-off. The product is not recognized by ICC-ES (at this time) for use as fire-retardant treated wood and would therefore not be considered acceptable in higher orders of construction recognized by the International Building Code that MAY allow for greater area without sprinklers. The claims made above may only work in very limited regions with special permission by the fire and/or building authority.
I work for the company marketing FLAMEDXX OSB, so I am biased. (Incidentally, the two earlier detractors are associated with a competitor of ours.) We do not claim that FLAMEDXX coated OSB is the same as fire retardant treated wood produced by pressure-treatment, which we also market. Code officials generally base decisions on performance, not definitions, and FLAMEDXX coated OSB meets the same tests required by codes for FRT wood. True, FLAMEDXX OSB has not been evaluated by ICC-ES; it has been evaluated by a different respected ANSI organization, IAPMO ES. FLAMEDXX OSB met the 2006 IBC and IRC. Due to a slight rewording, it does not meet the definition of FRT wood in the 2009 codes, but it still meets the performance requirements and can be permitted with confidence.
You may be able to get a product past one inspector that is questionable about meeting code but if it is picked up later by another inspector, it creates problems for everyone involved. Make absolutely certain every product you install does in fact meet code.
I wonder if Mr. DeVenzio could clarify his comments as they pertain to the current 2009 IBC. Specifically, he states:
“..FLAMEDXX coated OSB meets the same tests required by codes for FRT wood.”
“Due to a slight rewording, it does not meet the definition of FRT wood in the 2009 codes, but it still meets the performance requirements and can be permitted with confidence.”
The 2009 IBC requires that when a fire-retardant treated wood is produced by a means other than through a pressure impregnation process, the treatment shall:
a. Be an INTEGRAL part of the manufacturing process of the wood product.
b. Must provide PERMANENT protection to ALL surfaces of the wood product.
c. Must be tested on the FRONT and BACK faces of the panel.
It is my understanding that the application of the FLAMEDXX fire-retardant paint is:
1. applied to the OSB AFTER the manufacturing process of the wood product;
2. does not provide permanent protection to ALL surfaces of the wood product since the fire-retardant paint is not applied to ALL surfaces of the wood product;
3. does not provide permanent protection to all surfaces of the wood product since there is no fire-retardant paint that I am aware of that can provide PERMANENT protection;
4. is NOT tested on the front and back faces of the wood panel as required by the 2009 IBC.
(It is interesting that our competitor disparages FLAMEDXX coated OSB while reportedly striving to develop or acquire similar technology.) Mr. Muniz points out details of the code definition of “fire retardant treated wood.” As I wrote, we do not claim that FLAMEDXX OSB is the same as FRTW; we claim it meets the same performance requirements: Flame Spread Index of 25 or less, Smoke Developed Index of 450 or less, successful high-temperature testing, acceptable hygroscopicity, production that is monitored by an accepted third-party agency. That is why local authorities are willing to permit it. (If anyone who is not our competitor wishes to discuss this, please visit useFRTW.com/OSB or contact Arch Wood Protection.)
Hey Huck,
What’s the latest on FR coatings on wood panels? If you’re not up to speed on the latest information from your own company, check out this new white paper from Arch posted on one of your own spec pages:
http://www.designbuild-network.com/downloads/whitepapers/building/file1427/
It’s called “Fire Protection for Wood – Specifiers Beware!”
First FlameDXX is code compliant, then it’s only compliant with IBC 2006, and now Arch says to “Beware” of coatings. When will you guys tell the whole story about this product?
Perhaps you will be sharing this white paper with the people you have sold this product to in the USA? Maybe you don’t want them to know? I’m sure they’d like to read this before they install FlameDXX, not afterwards.