Building regulations are becoming more and more stringent, with alternative building materials and products being developed with improved safety in mind. Scolmore is continually assessing its existing product range to ensure they meet and keep up to date with any change in legislation and guidelines, as well as making improvements that will benefit installers.
With this in mind Scolmore has launched a new and improved version of its FlameGuard Back Box to offer total peace of mind in the event of fire. They are the only fire rated dry lining back boxes on the market that have ‘configurable’ lugs allowing installation into different depths of plasterboard. With installers tending to use double layered boards, requiring depths of up to 30mm, standards versions do not fit. Scolmore’s new FlameGuard Back Box has been designed to work with up to 30mm boards and operate in exactly the same way. It is as simple and quick to install as a standard cavity wall box.
The new and improved FlameGuard Back Boxes are an upgraded version of the existing 47mm product and key features include:
- Durable all steel construction
- Multiple cable entry points
- Unique spring loaded lugs
- 47mm depths
- Earth terminal fitted
In the event of a fire, the blue intumescent layer within the box expands as the temperature increases filling the metal box cavity. The expanded seal eliminates the flow of air through the void and thereby starves the fire of vital elements for combustion.
Modifications have been made to the moving lugs to include a second pair of gripping arms. The upper arms are designed to be removable, using pliers, when deeper board thicknesses are required. Using the upper tabs, the product works as before and is suitable for board thicknesses up to 20mm. Once the upper tabs have been removed, the lower arms enable the product to work with up to 30mm board thicknesses. The upper tabs work from 5mm to 22mm. With the upper tabs removed, the lower tabs work from 15mm to 30mm.
Modifications have also been made to the box itself. The slots on the side of the box have been modified to accommodate the changes to the moving lugs. The new versions use the same springs as the existing models and the spring mechanism works exactly as before. Earth terminals and the intumescent layer are also unchanged from the previous models.
FlameGuard back boxes have been tested and conform to both fire and acoustic BS EN standards. Fire: BS EN 1363-1: 1999 & BS EN 1364-1: 1999. Acoustic: BS EN ISO 10140-2: 2010 & BS EN ISO 717-1: 1997. They comply with Building Regulations. They are fire tested up to 90 minutes with the capability of the boxes being mounted back to back.