20/12/2017
Recently Efectis Nederland has tested electrical outlet wall boxes from Attema Gorinchem the Netherlands. During the test the air permeability or ‘leakage rate’ of the product (expressed in m3/u), has been investigated both at ambient temperature (Sa) and at 200 ºC (S200). As the EN test standard is for testing doors and openable windows only, the wall boxes were tested based on EN 1634-1:2004.
For the smoke control wall boxes Attema has developed a special inlay made from a flexible thin material, so it can be easily placed in the wall box.
In the test setup a flexible wall was simulated by placing two wall parts back to back, which could be secured with clamps on a wooden frame fitted with a rubber seal. The wall parts were made up of two layers of plasterboard with two rows of five wall boxes mounted at both sides of the wall panel.
The tests have been successful, especially for one type of smoke control wall box, with the measured maximum leakage rate of the 20 boxes under 1 m3/u at 10 Pa Sa and S200 and under 6 m3/u at 50 Pa S200. In comparison, a single door may have up to 20 m3/u for S200.
Currently there is no specific European test standard for the determination of smoke control of electrical outlet wall boxes, so no field of direct application can be based on the test results.
In the Netherlands the Dutch standard NEN 6075 designates the EN 1634-3 for testing other construction components than doors on smoke control. However in the current NEN standard no maximum flow rate is set for electrical outlet wall boxes. On a defined maximum flow rate may be anticipated in the updated version which is expected to come into effect in 2019.
Efectis can help you investigate the smoke control characteristics of your door-set, openable window or other construction components.
Contact: Sander Lutz – [sander.lutz@efectis.com]