The potential for the rapid spread of fire is of utmost concern for building owners and occupants, especially in high-rise and/or multi-occupancy buildings and commercial premises like retail outlets, hotels, hospitals, schools, and aged care facilities. Addressing and remediating the widespread use of combustible cladding materials has become increasingly important to optimise building safety and compliance in Australia and internationally.
Building or recladding with Deemed-to-Satisfy (DtS) non-combustible aluminium cladding is a savvy choice to optimise fire safety in any commercial, industrial, or high-rise residential building.
Key Takeaways
- Remediating the widespread use of combustible cladding materials has become increasingly important to optimise building safety and compliance in Australia.
- Mineral-core ACPs that meet AS 1530.1 have been scientifically proven to outperform other non-combustible aluminium cladding products in terms of ignition, heat transfer, and flame spread.
- ALPOLIC™ NC/A1 is tested to EN13501-1 Class A1 (Europe’s highest fire classification rating) and outperforms other aluminium cladding products currently on the market; it is exclusively available in Australia at Network Architectural.
Non-Combustible Cladding & Fire Performance – Research Results
It’s well understood that combustible cores within cladding panels pose an unacceptable fire risk in the presence of flames or extreme heat. But how do different types of “non-combustible” cladding perform?
According to AS 1530.1, which is a combustibility standard test, a material fails if it:
- Flames for a sustained period of 5 seconds or longer.
- The temperature of the material inside the panel rises by more than 50°C.
- The temperature on the surface of the panel rises by more than 50°C.
Any material that satisfies the criteria passes and is deemed non-combustible.
A scientific study published in January 2026 (online research portal Springer Nature) investigated the behaviour of fire with several types of non-combustible cladding panels used in high-rise buildings.
Four non-combustible cladding panels were exposed to flame from a butane torch, and their fire behaviour was assessed in terms of:
- Cladding material mass loss
- Heat flow through the cladding material
- Decomposition of the cladding material
The cladding tested included:
- Solid aluminium panels
- Honeycomb aluminium panels
- Aluminium composite panels with 90% non-combustible mineral cores
- Aluminium composite panels with limited non-combustible (70%) mineral cores
The study concluded:
- The unexposed (i.e. internal) surface of the solid aluminium panels demonstrated significantly higher heat transfer than honeycomb panels or ACPs. This has implications for building energy consumption.
- The honeycomb panels ignited and spread flames, as did the ACPs with limited non-combustible mineral core material. This was attributed to the melting/ignition of core materials and/or adhesives.
- The 90% non-combustible core ACPs did not ignite or spread flames.
The results mentioned here unquestionably demonstrate that non-combustible ACPs with at least 90% mineral content in their cores outperform solid aluminium and honeycomb aluminium panels for external façade cladding. This is no more crucial than for commercial, high-rise residential, and industrial buildings.
Gold Standard Commercial-Grade ACPs: ALPOLIC™ NC/A1
Mitsubishi ALPOLIC™ NC/A1 is the gold standard in DtS non-combustible aluminium cladding. Designed and engineered especially for the Australian market, it is created to meet Australia’s harsh climate conditions. These non-combustible ACPs are made with mineral cores containing zero combustible polyethylene. Among the very best fire-safe cladding options available anywhere, it significantly outperforms other aluminium cladding products currently on the market.
Furthermore, ALPOLIC™ NC/A1 comes with a very appealing, unmatched 20-year full manufacturer’s replacement warranty, and this has no cleaning clause. It is among the premier aluminium cladding products on the market today, and is exclusively available in Australia at Network Architectural.
