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Committee E05 on Fire Standards was formed in 1904. E05 meets twice a year, in June and December, with approximately 100 members attending four days of technical meetings. Workshops are part of each meeting schedule and symposia are also held at times. The Committee has more than 520 members and it currently has jurisdiction over 55 standards published in the Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Volume 04.07. E05 has ten technical subcommittees that maintain these standards, which together with standards developed by other ASTM committees, are an essential part of fire safety. ACTIVITIES, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES The fire standards developed in Committee E05 primarily support the construction, building content and furnishing industries. These fire standards are used for analyzing and assessing the fire performance of materials, products and assemblies. The committee also develops fire test standards to measure the response of materials, products and assemblies to sources of heat or flame under controlled conditions. E05 has a number of ongoing standards activities. Some recent developments include activities under the recently formed Subcommittee E05.14 on External Fire Exposures. These activities include the development of new standards for evaluating the under-deck fire test response of deck structures, determining the fire test response of exterior wall systems and methods for classifying the fire resistance of vegetation. The demand for these types of fire tests represents a concern other than the traditional fire resistance and fire endurance tests. Other examples include tests for the resistance to ignition of furniture composites and upholstered furniture components as well as tests for smoke and toxicity. Perhaps the most famous fire standard is E 84, Test Method for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials. This standard is universally known as the "tunnel test" or the “Steiner tunnel test” after the test method’s principal developer, Albert L. Steiner. First adopted in 1950, today the method is still one of the most extensively used ASTM fire standards. Perhaps the most dramatic change in the fire testing has been the emergence of tests for heat release. To date, a series of six calorimetry tests have been developed by the committee. These tests are capable of producing reliable results on a number of important significant burning properties. A major area of concern to the committee is the NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology] Building and Fire Safety Investigation on the September 2001 Fire and Collapse of the World Trade Center Towers. The final NIST reports were completed in October 2005. ASTM has been working on the report recommendations as they relate to the development and revision of standards, and along with Committee E06 on Performance of Buildings and several other ASTM committees, E05 continues to play an important role in the development of new and revised standards as a result of these findings. PARTICIPATING AS A MEMBER ON THE COMMITTEE ASTM International opens its doors to all technical experts with an interest in the standardization process, and the best means to keep abreast of changes, introduce your proposals, and to acquire the standards is to become a member. ASTM membership is comprised of volunteer, industry professionals from around the world. As a member of ASTM Committee C01, you will be exposed to the robust resources and member benefits included below that have helped make ASTM a worldwide standards development leader for more than a century:
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