The WISA-Spruce plywood product family’s versatility increases as UPM Plywood introduces the new fire-retardant WISA-SprucefloorFR. Unique to the UK market, WISA-SprucefloorFR is specifically designed for flooring and available in 18mm and 22mm thicknesses. The fire-retardant properties of the panel provide significant benefits to designers and builders.
WISA-SprucefloorFR plywood meets the requirements of the most stringent fire risk classification, B-s1 d0, without compromising the plywood’s excellent technical properties. Lightweight yet strong, it is a perfect solution for structural and load bearing applications in house building, light industrial and commercial end uses.
“The most significant benefit of WISA-SprucefloorFR plywood is that it can be used to replace complicated and multi-layered structures at sites that require fire-retardant materials,” says Olli Wirén, End Use Manager at UPM Plywood.
The fire-retardant treatment the WISA-SprucefloorFR plywood undergoes at the production stage makes both planning and building easier. Planning is simplified since a site’s fireproofing requirements can be met with one structural product. In construction, ready-for-use WISA-SprucefloorFR reduces material costs, requires less storage space and makes installation simpler and faster.
Easy to use and sustainable
Fire-retardant WISA plywood is easy and safe to use and handle, and does not necessitate any special requirements for the other construction materials used. WISA-SprucefloorFR panels are tongued and grooved on all four sides, making installation and use easy and effortless.
“The technical properties of WISA-SprucefloorFR plywood are exactly the same as the properties of regular WISA-Sprucefloor plywood. Its fire-retardant properties and the fire classification are retained even when the plywood is cut or a small amount of holes are drilled into it. Both sides of the product are fire-retardant, so it cannot be installed incorrectly,” says Riku Härkonen, Product Manager at UPM Plywood.
WISA-SprucefloorFR plywood is a sustainable product made from northern spruce and the fire-retardant treatment given to the plywood does not harm the environment. The product has been granted the M1 Emission Classification of Building Materials and an appropriate CE marking for use as a structural component.
In addition, third-party verified and internationally comparable Environmental Product Declarations (EDPs) are now available for UPM’s WISA plywood. These EPDs state the product’s environmental impact throughout its lifecycle, from the sourcing of raw materials to its disposal. UPM Plywood’s EPDs have been created for four product groups: coated and uncoated spruce plywood, and coated and uncoated birch plywood.
The EPDs have been published on the international ECO Platform EPD list and therefore they are valid in all European EPD programmes that are part of the system.
Fire-retardant WISA-SprucefloorFR plywood is available in all well-equipped stores that sell construction materials and timber.