Solutions for offsite and fire safety in one panel: SMARTPLY FR OSB3

The constant demand for new housing is what keeps the construction industry alive and booming. However, these demands are increasingly steep and must remain affordable for the majority of end users, without compromising on quality and safety. So, exploring methods of housebuilding to incorporate the latest safe, time and money saving solutions are vital in this changing landscape.

Modular building is now seen as one of the ways to overcome this challenge. In many cases, modular construction produces buildings that are stronger, as each module is designed in controlled environments to optimise build quality. Crucially though, there is a much shorter build time involved, along with considerably less expense and high levels of quality control with less site traffic and less waste.
Anticipating this shift in construction, timber panel innovator MEDITE SMARTPLY identified the need for a product format to extend its catalogue of panel technologies.
SMARTPLY FR OSB3 is the flame-retardant panel for use in structural applications, that can now be manufactured in panels of up to 7.5m long by 2.5m wide, making it ideal for offsite construction methods. Currently, this is helping to drive efficiency up and costs down within construction, as well as ensuring safety standards for finished builds.
Using offsite building methods, entire sides of buildings can now be sheathed in a controlled environment before being delivered to site, with no flame-retardant post-treatments required once in place, as SMARTPLY FR is treated during manufacture. Efficiencies like these offer exciting opportunities for the social housing sector and affordable, modular building projects.
SMARTPLY FR is made with Zeroignition® technology, an environmentally-friendly, water-based flame-retardant solution which is applied to OSB strands before they are pressed into panel form. This means that this ingenious panel’s flame retardance is integral, and unlike many panels treated post-manufacture, which can have destructive effects on the physical strength properties of OSB, SMARTPLY FR maintains its structural integrity and meets CE-marked, certified structural performance and safety standards.
Manufactured to meet European reaction to fire class C-s2, d0 and BFL -s1 performance, SMARTPLY FR assures safety for the end user. However, this isn’t all. As a sustainably produced, FSC certified product, manufactured with zero added formaldehyde, it meets specification requirements for projects also aiming to become BREEAM certified, and contribute to the growing requirement for safe, healthy living environments.
Combined with these safety assurances, this long format panel is ideal for modern methods of construction such as offsite fabrication. Efficient building methods are helping to meet the need for more and more new homes as well as drive affordability: a key criterion for social housing.

www.mdfosb.com/en/smartply/products/smartply-fr-fr-build-osb