Abstract. The tendency to use thicker layers of insulation and a wider use of combustible insulation materials is identified to pose a potential risk to fire safety of buildings.A new approach to the current Danish prescriptive code on fire protection of combustible insulation is proposed as a way to meet the concern. The new approach uses the fire properties of the insulation material itself to point out the necessary protective measures. This is contrary to the most European countries were only a reaction to fire class of the façade construction as a whole is required. The basic principle is presented but more research is needed to complete the new approach.

Full-scale tests of A-60 steel and FRD-60 aluminium and FRP bulkheads exposed to fire were carried out in order to compare their respective behaviours in terms of their ultimate load-carrying capacity beyond the prescribed 60 min threshold under thermomechanical loadings. These three materials were chosen as implementation within the SOLAS framework requires documenting a level of robustness equivalent to that of steel. This is a complex process since robustness is not clearly defined and no procedure exists to quantify it. It was found that robustness can be quantified as a time-to-mechanicalfailure and is highly dependent on the fire scenario (load, fire exposure, and boundary conditions).Regulatory codes and design practices were found to disregard specific properties of alternative materials, and only consider one default scenario, which is not representative of a real-life situation. It was concluded that specific properties of alternative materials should be used and equivalence in terms of safety should be documented through performance-based design, for instance risk analyses, instead of forcing requirements originally developed for steel structures on their lightweight counterparts.

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