Fire retardant paint

Protect buildings and people with fire retardant paint

Fire retardant paint is designed to increase fire safety by providing additional time to evacuate buildings in the event of fire. The gas prevents the fire from affecting the underlying surface and so, fire retardant paint slows down the burning process.   The coating can be applied on critical areas that become fragile when exposed to high heat. For example; metal structures & wood.

The fire retardant properties of paint and coatings as well as other materials are measured by grouping them into 30 minute and 60 minute fire prevention products.

With a certified 60 minute class, the fire retardant paint effectively stops fire and prevents it from spreading for 60 minutes. Giving one hour additional time for evacuation.

The importance of getting the job certified

One thing to keep in mind regarding fire retardant paint is certification: whether you apply it yourself or let the job done by a professional, you should make sure you have proof of the application and the receipts of the used products.

Such a certificate is almost necessary if you want to negotiate a beneficial insurance policy or if you are claiming actual damage from the insurance

Many applicators and coating manufacturers in the Philippines provide a certificate for the fire retardant coating and application. If the applicator however, does not provide certification, you should at least have the proof of purchase of the product and a fire protection certificate from the coating manufacturer.

Fire retardant paint VS intumescent paint

Quite often, fire retardant and intumescent paint are used interchangeably. But fire retardant and intumescent paint is not the same. There is a subtle difference between the two that can be understood by referring to the definitions of each.

• Fire retardant is any substance that can mitigate the intensity of a combustion or reduce the strength of a fire.
• Intumescent  is substance that tends to swell when heated (such as on fire). In other words, its volume increases and density decreases. There are some intumescent substances that can expand to almost 100 times their original thickness.

Invisible fire retardant paint for wood, timber and plywood

An example of wood treated with fire retardant paint and without it.

We all know that wood burns fast, yet it is a very common building material in the Philippines. Today’s technology, fortunately, allows a formula for fire retardant paint for wood to make buildings safer also in case of fire. Even though the paint for wood does not prevent the structures from catching fire, it still drastically reduces the speed of burning.

Wooden structures last longer and the timber does not collapse immediately, giving people valuable time to escape.

The coating is suitable for wood, lumber, plywood and timbers for interiors or exteriors. Clear fire retardant pain for wood exists as lacquer-like hard finish, preserving wood treatment and clear fire retardant varnish for wood. It is one of the most popular fire preventing coatings due to the fact that it does not affect the appearance of the wood, but still provides appropriate protection from fire.

Protect steel structures from collapsing with fire retardant paint

It can take just a few minutes for unprotected steelwork in a building to attain temperatures of around 550ºC in a fire. At this temperature, steelwork loses its load bearing capacity and the structure is likely to collapse, giving little time for people to evacuate and even less time for the fire service to bring the fire under control. Fire retardant paint can protect these structures from hazardous situations.

This is again an example of meeting the Philippine safety standard criteria. The coating it will allow developers to meet the outlined safety standard in a very cost-effective manner. The special paint offers up to and including 120 minutes of fire protection and can be applied both on and off site. It is a waterborne product with low odour, often chosen as the ideal solution for on-site application.

Fire retardant paint manufacturers and prices in Philippines

There are a number of suppliers that provide fire retardants in Philippines. Contego International and Destiny Paint are some of the suppliers. The paint can cost up to a $100.