A few years ago, a fire started in a night club when the pyrotechniques ignited a ceiling covered with regular urethane packing foam. This product was not treated with any form of fire retardant. The ensuing fire produced harmful gasses and smoke which filled the room so quickly that the people inside could not escape in time. This tragedy was caused by using the wrong product in a public space. To avert this from ever repeating itself, we exert tremendous effort in telling folks what to use where and more importantly - what not to use!

First and foremost you must understand that given enough heat, anything will burn including concrete. Government building standards are established based on available building materials, application and safety. For instance the safety regulations for a downtown high-rise building are much more stringent than that of a home in a sub-division. And just like any other building material, the choice of acoustic material therefore depends on the application. If you are using urethane foam panels (with a fire retardant!) in a single room home studio this may be totally acceptable to you. On the other hand, if you are treating a band practice room at a school, you will certainly want to play it safe because kid's lives are at stake.

Urethane or other petrochemical foam products
Primacoustic foam products like our Primafoam is embedded with a fire retardant during the 'baking' process. Because foam products are produced from an oil base, they are apt to ignite. The retardant is used to slow the burn ignition point long enough to allow the people inside the room to escape before the foam catches fire. The foam itself is tested in a laboratory to pass what is known as the California C-117 code or classification. This test is designed for furniture such as office chairs, couches and other furnishings that employ foam for comfort as part of their design. The State of California set a rigid specification for this use and companies like Primacoustic, Sonex and Auralex employ this test to assure users that our products meet this minimal requirement. It is however important to note that this classification has absolutely nothing to do with building code standards. Because of this, we do not recommend Primacoustic foam products be used in public places and even go as far as suggesting that the rooms be outfitted with sprinklers and/or fire extinguishers. If you intend to use a urethane based foam product in your home, office or studio, you should make sure that it has been treated with a fire retardant. You should also contact your insurance company to make sure they will approve its use.

Fabric covered fiberglass panels
Fiberglass is a construction material that is used everywhere. Soft fiberglass is used in attics and it is stuffed inside walls. Rigid fiberglass is used in commercial construction for wall insulation. It is also formed to coat pipes and ducts to protect against freezing and quiet them down. This same high-density fiberglass is covered with a fabric and used to control sound in recording studios, broadcast facilities, home theatres and public places like gymnasiums, auditoriums, theaters and so on. Manipulating glass usually means that we have to heat it up to a melting point. To actually get glass to ignite requires a tremendous amount of heat. Because this will rarely occur, this makes glass a very good and safe material for construction and is why companies like Corning have invested tons of money to make sure the product meets building design codes. These building codes are set out by government agencies and are designated under classifications such as ASTM, UL or CSA with a given number. To receive this classification, we sent our Broadway panels to a test facility that conducted burn tests. The results show that our panels meet or exceed the Class-! (or Class-A) criteria. This makes them safe for use in any type of building whether it be a private home or commercial building.

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