Overview
ISO/TR 20118:2019 - Plastics: Guidance on fire characteristics and fire performance of PVC materials used in building applications - is a Technical Report that summarizes fire-related behaviour of PVC-based construction products. It covers unplasticized PVC (PVC‑U), plasticized/flexible PVC (PVC‑P) and chlorinated PVC (PVC‑C), explains relevant fire test approaches and limits, and focuses on product performance during the use phase in buildings (not manufacturing, installation, dismantling or demolition).
Keywords: ISO/TR 20118:2019, PVC fire characteristics, fire performance of PVC, PVC building materials.
Key topics
- Material classes: Guidance differentiates PVC‑U, PVC‑P and PVC‑C and addresses flame-retardant strategies.
- Fire safety strategy: Objectives such as life safety, property conservation, business continuity and environmental protection are explained in a building context.
- Reaction-to-fire tests: Overview of relevance and limitations of small-, intermediate- and large‑scale tests for plastics (including cone calorimeter metrics).
- Material fire characteristics: Combustibility, ignitability (ignition temperature, cone calorimeter), oxygen index, heat release and heat release rate, flame spread mechanisms, flaming droplets, char and intumescence.
- Smoke and combustion products: Smoke generation, obscuration, toxicity (including HCl concerns for PVC), corrosivity and decay behavior.
- Relevance and interpretation: How test results relate to real-world fire scenarios and the limits of standard tests when applied to certain PVC products.
Note: ISO/TR 20118:2019 is a guidance document - it explains technical topics and test relevance rather than imposing prescriptive requirements.
Applications
- Use the guidance when assessing the fire performance of PVC components integrated into buildings, such as rigid and flexible PVC products (e.g., pipes, profiles, membranes and other in‑service building components).
- Helps inform material selection, specification writing and fire risk assessment during design and maintenance phases.
- Useful for interpreting test data for compliance with building codes or performance-based fire safety designs.
Keywords: fire test methods, cone calorimeter, heat release rate, smoke toxicity, flame spread.
Who should use it
- PVC and plastics manufacturers
- Building designers, architects and specifiers
- Building owners and facility managers
- Fire safety engineers, testing laboratories, firefighters and investigators
- Regulators and public health authorities
Related standards
- Normative references in the report include ISO 472 (Plastics - Vocabulary), ISO 13943 (Fire safety - Vocabulary) and IEC 60695‑4 (fire test terminology). The report also situates PVC fire performance within regulatory frameworks such as the EU Construction Products Regulation and harmonized reaction‑to‑fire classification systems.
Use ISO/TR 20118:2019 as a technical reference to understand PVC behaviour in fires, interpret test results, and inform safe, code‑aware specification of PVC products in buildings.