The rise of the Euroclass: Inside the black box of fire test standardisation

Abstract

This paper charts the initiation, development, and finalisation of Europe's harmonised system for reaction-to-fire classification. Technical literature, archival material, and original interviews are drawn upon to document and explain the process by which this system was created. It is shown that early attempts to retain existing national fire test methods were abandoned, but that from these existing tests grew a novel (but not wholly new) system. We document and detail how and why key thresholds and test parameters were agreed. We show how a relatively small number of civil servants and their technical advisors were empowered to create this system and how, once they had completed their task, they were promptly disempowered. The result of this process of harmonisation was that new agreements were forged; these agreements were embodied in standards, and embedded in each nation's building regulations. Our account shows not only that ideological, national, and business interests competed to influence this ‘Euroclass’ process, but also that the creation of useable standards necessarily distilled complex judgements into a simplified standard, with the reasoning behind the choices then becoming opaque to users.