Fire performance of fire-retardant wood fiberboard ceiling tile

Wood fiberboard‐based, cellulose ceiling tiles have been used for many years. While various fire‐retardant technologies have been developed to reduce the surface flammability of these products to acceptable levels, questions of their suitability for use due to their intrinsic fuel value and the impact of attachment methods used on fire performance have been raised from time to time. This paper reviews the history of these products from a fire‐performance perspective and presents materials property data on surface flamespread, thermal conductivity and ignition phenomena. In addition, large‐scale room fire test results are presented including compartment tests conducted on a variety of assemblies (including those installed with mastic construction adhesives) according to ASTM E 603—Standard Guide for Room Fire Experiments.