Whether you are building a home, replacing your roof, or just curious, understanding the fire ratings for roofs is important. A fire rating indicates the roof material’s ability to resist flames. At Planet Roofing, we understand that your roof is your home’s first line of defense, and it needs to be as resistant to everything as possible. It is important to remember that these ratings indicate a roof’s ability to give occupants time to escape. Ratings do not guarantee occupant safety or building preservation.
In this blog post, we will go over the three levels of fire resistance and what they mean. Before it can be put into any level, a roof must must meet the following baseline criteria:
- Ratings must apply to fires that start outside the building
- During/after the fire, roof materials cannot:
- Blow off or fall off the roof deck in the form of flaming/glowing brands that can start other fires
- Allow the roof deck to fall in the form of glowing particles
- Allow sustained burning of the roof deck’s underside
- Break, crack, warp, or slide and expose the roof deck below
Class A Fire Protection: This is the highest level of fire resistance. This level can withstand severe fire exposure because the materials are not very flammable and will not let the fire spread.
Class B Fire Protection: This is moderate fire resistance. These roofs are not very flammable and are effective against moderate fire exposure.
Class C Fire Protection: This is light fire resistance. These roofs are not too flammable, but are only effective against light fire exposure.
Call Planet Roofing, Denver’s best roofing contractor, today for more information!