Interim test package

A manufacturer will, therefore, have the option of conducting the existing national tests required by a Member State, to which he wants to export, most probably still in a laboratory of that Member State, as is the case now. Alternatively, he can opt for conducting the "Interim Test Package" in any official laboratory, within the European Community, and, provided that he satisfies the necessary requirements, he cannot be asked to undertake any further testing. 

Interim collection of processed material Interim physical characterization Interim chemical characterization Stability testing Packaging I... 

A description is given of the initiatives carried out within the European Community for the harmonization of fire testing. The technical and economic reasons are explained for such initiatives, which are taken in order to remove barriers to trade from the European internal market. Of the various fire aspects, only fire reaction testing is taken into consideration here, because it appears as a major technical obstacle to the free circulation of construction materials. All possible approaches are considered for the attainment of such a harmonization and one, the so called interim solution, is fully described. The proposed interim solution, is based on the adoption of three fundamental test methods, i.e. the British "Surface Spread of Flame", the French "Epiradiateur" and the German "Brandschacht", and on the use of a rather complicated "transposition document", which should allow to derive most of the national classifications from the three test package. 

The test methods chosen for the interim solution are listed in Table 1 against the proposed use of the materials. It can be seen that the test methods are grouped in four packages according to the type and level of performance. 

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