[chrisdwalker2002]

Im the technician at a school, and have been asked by my head of department to flame check some boxes which have been painted as set for a show being toured next week. The theatre they are visiting has said the boxes can be used on their stage as long as they have been flame checked. Ive agreed to do the work, but am wondering whether I should provide anything written to say what they were treated with etc, or just leave my name out of it, with the theory that we can say yes, they've been flame checked, and if they want to test them with a flame, then they can do and the final decision be with them.

On the same subject, ive inherited some wool surge drapes, all IFR, and confirmed by myself with a lighter (on a small cutting under controlled conditions I will add). No certification exists for them, so if I was to give them a spray over with fire check solution, and write up a statement outlining the treatment (to satisfy the schools site manager) would I be safe to use them, in terms of them already being IFR, and the self treatment and statement being purely to keep the site manager happy?

I know very little in the area of fire regs. So any help appreciated.
Thanks.

[jonathanhill]

On the subject if the drapes, how do you know that they are IFR, which stands for inherently flame retardant? There must be a record, even if it is only with the manufacturers, of the drapes.

I would contact the manufacturer and ask for a copy of the certification.

[J Pearce]

On the subject of the boxes, can you detail their construction? You may find they are flame retardant by the nature of their construction.

Furthermore you may find that blindly spraying flambar/flamecheck on them has no effect whatsoever.

This post has been edited by J Pearce: 08 June 2012 - 09:57 PM

[chrisdwalker2002]

jonathanhill, on 08 June 2012 - 09:48 PM, said:

On the subject if the drapes, how do you know that they are IFR, which stands for inherently flame retardant? There must be a record, even if it is only with the manufacturers, of the drapes.

I would contact the manufacturer and ask for a copy of the certification.

The person who gave them to me stated that they are IFR Wool Serge, and gave them to me as they had no certification and couldn't be used, even though they are, of course, perfectly good! I took them off his hands to see if I could salvage them for the massively underfunded performing arts department at the school I work for. I contacted the manufacturer, who are Whaleys, and they cannot provide any information unless I can provide original invoice numbers etc, which are also long gone.

[rossmck]

Wool is naturally flame retardant - if it's wool serge then it's IFR and no certification should be required - I would expect most venues you'd be likely to bring a show into would accept that anything black serge is IFR, they'll have seen enough of it to know (beyond reasonable doubt anyway) by looking at it and may try the flame test if they're unsure.

[chrisdwalker2002]

rossmck, on 09 June 2012 - 08:30 PM, said:

Wool is naturally flame retardant - if it's wool serge then it's IFR and no certification should be required - I would expect most venues you'd be likely to bring a show into would accept that anything black serge is IFR, they'll have seen enough of it to know (beyond reasonable doubt anyway) by looking at it and may try the flame test if they're unsure.

This is what I am going on ... however when the site manager of the school I work for tells me he wont let me use them without a certificate to put in his filing cabinet to show to fire inspectors who know nothing about wool serge stage drapes. Ive endlessly searched the internet and cant find anything that says wool serge requires no certification, any ideas where I could find anything? Its my last idea to convince the site manager

[kerry davies]

Seeing as how fire service uniforms were made of heavy wool serge for generations for precisely this reason I doubt they would be too stretched to give an opinion without having to visit. Phone them.

[JOCK TATTIE]

chrisdwalker2002, on 08 June 2012 - 09:37 PM, said:

Im the technician at a school, and have been asked by my head of department to flame check some boxes which have been painted as set for a show being toured next week. The theatre they are visiting has said the boxes can be used on their stage as long as they have been flame checked. Ive agreed to do the work, but am wondering whether I should provide anything written to say what they were treated with etc, or just leave my name out of it, with the theory that we can say yes, they've been flame checked, and if they want to test them with a flame, then they can do and the final decision be with them.

On the same subject, ive inherited some wool surge drapes, all IFR, and confirmed by myself with a lighter (on a small cutting under controlled conditions I will add). No certification exists for them, so if I was to give them a spray over with fire check solution, and write up a statement outlining the treatment (to satisfy the schools site manager) would I be safe to use them, in terms of them already being IFR, and the self treatment and statement being purely to keep the site manager happy?

I know very little in the area of fire regs. So any help appreciated.
Thanks.

Hi Chris,
How do you know your Wool Serge drapes are IFR?? This is a relatively new product I.e. IFR Black Wool Serge. They are normally DFR! If they are IFR then as it states they are Inherently which means the flame retardancy is within the fabric at point of manufacture which means no need to spray anything.It is very difficult to attain a Cert for 2nd hand drapes! If they are DFR there is a company in Southampton where they will spray them for you and give a Fire Cert at a cost obviously!

chrisdwalker2002, on 09 June 2012 - 08:49 PM, said:

rossmck, on 09 June 2012 - 08:30 PM, said:

Wool is naturally flame retardant - if it's wool serge then it's IFR and no certification should be required - I would expect most venues you'd be likely to bring a show into would accept that anything black serge is IFR, they'll have seen enough of it to know (beyond reasonable doubt anyway) by looking at it and may try the flame test if they're unsure.

This is what I am going on ... however when the site manager of the school I work for tells me he wont let me use them without a certificate to put in his filing cabinet to show to fire inspectors who know nothing about wool serge stage drapes. Ive endlessly searched the internet and cant find anything that says wool serge requires no certification, any ideas where I could find anything? Its my last idea to convince the site manager

You are leading Chris down the wrong path mate! Every drape in a public arena requires Fire Certification even if it is IFR!!! Wool is naturally flame retardant yes but WOOL SERGE is NOT!!

[ianl]

I agree , most wool serge is dfr

Of all the drapes I've ever bought, none have come with a certificate refering to that specific drape, after all this would involve individually serial numbering every drape.

What is easy to get hold of is a test certificate from the manafacturer of the material rather than the manafacturer of the drape

Therefore my paperwork consists of one cert for wool serge, one for trvira, one for molten travira, one for casement, one for velour, etc

All my ndfr drapes were individually numbered and I had a log to show when they needed retreating, but I got bored of that and now only stock dfr and ifr