Fire Resistance means a degree of resistance of the building components, systems and materials to fire often measured in terms of time of withstanding a standard test fire that is very hard to light on fire and will not get past a certain temperature for a certain amount of time.
Reference Definition by Aisc.org: Fire Resistance means the ability of building components and systems to perform their intended fire separating and/or loadbearing functions under fire exposure. Fire resistant building components and systems are those with specified fire resistance ratings based on fire resistance tests. These ratings, expressed in minutes and hours, describe the time duration for which a given building component or system maintains specific functions while exposed to a specific simulated fire event. Various test protocols describe the procedures to evaluate the performance of doors, windows, walls, floors, beams, columns, etc. The term ‘fire proof’ is a misnomer in that nothing is fire proof. All construction materials, components and systems have limits where they will be irreparably damaged by fire.
Related Definitions in the Project: The HSE Management; Process Safety Engineering
