Fire Protection Requirements for Foam Board Building Insulation

Foam board insulation fire barrier requirements
- Exposed foam board insulation in an occupied space: fire code issues
- Drywall required to cover foam insulating board used indoors
- Using foam insulating board for a building insulation retrofit by gluing to existing gypsum board wall surfaces
Questions & Answers about exposed foam board building insulation & fire safety requirements
References

Click to Show or Hide Related Topics

InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.

Exposed foam board insulation fire hazards: this Q&A article discusses the requirement for a fire-resistant covering for foam and foam-board board building insulation. Also see Foam Board Insulation, POLYSTYRENE FOAM INSULATION, and BUILDING SAFETY HAZARDS GUIDE.

Fire Safety and Foam Insulation Board

The question-and-answer article below paraphrases, quotes-from, updates, and comments an original article from Solar Age Magazine and written by Steven Bliss.

What coverings are acceptable for foam insulation used indoors?

Question:

I am reinsulating a house that has concrete block walls, a stucco exterior, and 3/4-inch foil-backed gypsum board over furring strips on the building interior.

If I glued foam insulating board directly over the existing plaster wall finish, would paneling be sufficient covering? Will the foil backing on the gypsum board create a cold-side vapor barrier? - Gordon Reed Jr., Kingsford MI.

In the photograph at left, foam insulating board is shown on a garage ceiling below a second floor bedroom - this material should have been covered with fire rated drywall to meet local building code specifications for fire safety.

Answer: Fire Code Requirements for Covering Foam Insulating Board

Since most fire codes call for a minimum of half-hour fire rating over foam insulations, paneling would probably not provide a sufficient fire barrier over the foam insulating board. New 1/2-inch drywall is usually called for [and in some installations, fire-rated drywall or thicker drywall may be required for local codes and for certain applications].

The thin foil used on the back of drywall will create a moderate cold-side vapor retarder, but the exact permenance is not published for foil-backed gypsum board.

The safe tack is to use a highgraade air/vapor barrier on the inside, keeping it much less permeable than the cold side barrier. We suggest foil-faced foam insulating board with the joints sealed with foil tape.

Watch out: depending on whether or not the foil backing on the existing foil-backed gypsum board is perforated or not, the perm rating of that surface could be near zero - that is, very resistant to moisture movement, forming a moisture barrier in the "wrong place".

So it would also be a good idea to take measures to keep interior building moisture levels to a moderate level. See HUMIDITY LEVEL TARGET

Background on foam board insulation and fire protection:

Foam insulation board should not be left exposed in building interiors.

While many modern foam insulating products do not themselves readily support combustion (that is they don't catch fire and burn alone) they may give off thick acrid or toxic black smoke in a fire, making it difficult to safely exit the burning building.

Foam Insulation Alternatives to Solid Foam Board Insulation

Various foam insulation products that are sprayed in buildings, including UFFI, Icynene, Latex, and other insulating foams as well as fire resistant spray foam insulation used for sealing building penetrations, a different product from the foam board insulation discussed here, are described at INSULATION IDENTIFICATION GUIDE and at Foam Insulation Types - Visual Id.

Original article

The link to the original Q&A article in PDF form immediately below is preceded by an expanded/updated online version of this article.

Q&A on Covering Indoor Foam Insulation - PDF version, use your browser's back button to return to this page. Original article, Solar Age Magazine, September 1985, adapted and updated for InspectAPedia.com November 2010.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

...

Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia

Questions & answers or comments about exposed foam board building insulation & fire safety requirements.

Ask a Question or Enter Search Terms in the InspectApedia search box just below.

Technical Reviewers & References

Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.

3/07: thanks to Gary Randolph, Ounce of Prevention Home Inspection, LLC Buffalo, NY, for attentive reading and editing suggestions. Mr. Randolph can be reached in Buffalo, NY, at (716) 636-3865 or email: gary@ouncehome.com
06/07: thanks for photographs of transite asbestos heating ducts, courtesy of Thomas Hauswirth, Managing Member of Beacon Fine Home Inspections, LLC and (in 2007) Vice President, Connecticut Association of Home Inspectors Ph. 860-526-3355 Fax 860-526-2942 beaconinspections@sbcglobal.net

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.

The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.

Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.

Building Research Council, BRC, nee Small Homes Council, SHC, School of Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, brc.arch.uiuc.edu. "The Small Homes Council (our original name) was organized in 1944 during the war at the request of the President of the University of Illinois to consider the role of the university in meeting the demand for housing in the United States. Soldiers would be coming home after the war and would be needing good low-cost housing. ... In 1993, the Council became part of the School of Architecture, and since then has been known as the School of Architecture-Building Research Council. ... The Council's researchers answered many critical questions that would affect the quality of the nation's housing stock.
- How could homes be designed and built more efficiently?
- What kinds of construction and production techniques worked well and which did not?
- How did people use different kinds of spaces in their homes?
- What roles did community planning, zoning, and interior design play in how neighborhoods worked
"An Example of Colonial Paneling", Norman Morrison Isham, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 6, No. 5 (May, 1911), pp. 112-116, available by JSTOR.
"Energy Savers: Whole-House Supply Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Whole-House_Supply_Vent.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11880?print
"Energy Savers: Whole-House Exhaust Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Whole-House_Exhaust.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11870
"Energy Savers: Ventilation [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Ventilation.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
"Energy Savers: Natural Ventilation [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Natural_Ventilation.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
"Energy Savers: Energy Recovery Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Energy_Recovery_Venting.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11900
"Energy Savers: Detecting Air Leaks [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Detect_Air_Leaks.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
"Energy Savers: Air Sealing [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Air_Sealing_1.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
...


	InspectAPedia^®	Question? Just ask us!	InspectAPedia
Free Encyclopedia of Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair

Question? Just ask us!

Free Encyclopedia of Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair