DK Board EPS Insulation Material Receives Attention for 'Fire Safety' Compliance Approval

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Passes Fire Test for Dry Exterior Wall Stone Cladding Model

Achievement Just Over Two Months After Notification of Wet Model Passing

DK Board Co., Ltd.'s Simjae Jun Non-combustible EPS insulation material has once again proven to be a fire-safe insulation material by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

DK Board announced on the 25th that its Simjae Jun Non-combustible insulation material DK Board-X recently received a passing evaluation in the fire test of dry (stone) exterior wall finishing materials conducted from the 13th to the 21st of last month, according to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Notice No. 2023-15.

DK Board conducting a fire test on a (dry) stone material physical model.
[Photo by DK Board]

This achievement was made just over two months after receiving a passing certificate in the wet-type real-scale fire test under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport notice in January.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is strengthening the ‘Quality Certification and Management Standards for Building Materials’ to enhance the safety of building materials vulnerable to fire.

However, this policy requires certification of fire safety standards for the insulation materials from the government, which many small and medium-sized enterprises find difficult to meet, leading them to avoid the testing process altogether.

In fact, the Ministry conducts performance and quality inspections of all processes including ▲exterior wall finishing systems ▲composition and materials of test specimens ▲insulation material placement ▲thermocouple measurement locations ▲finishing materials, cavity layers, internal and external thermocouples ▲heat release rate ▲gas toxicity, and then determines pass or fail.

Given this situation, the construction industry consensus is that it is not easy for small and medium-sized enterprises with relatively inferior product technology and performance to obtain a passing notification.

However, DK Board-X is a product that integrates four patented technologies developed and invested in by DK Board over more than 10 years, featuring maximized insulation effect, excellent workability, and enhanced quasi-non-combustible performance compared to conventional expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation materials, which is believed to have led to this achievement.

Moreover, despite being a Simjae non-combustible insulation material, it boasts outstanding durability as a unique product that satisfies performance criteria such as fusion strength, flexural and compressive strength, and absorption rate.

In particular, it has received high praise from architects for significantly compensating for the drawbacks of combustible insulation materials and combustible dryvit-type exterior wall finishing construction, which have been pointed out in recent large-scale fire incidents.

Accordingly, DK Board will be able to use test certificates for all thicknesses from 50mm to 180mm when constructing dry exterior wall finishing materials in the future.

Furthermore, the newly strengthened Building Act stipulates that for exterior wall finishing of buildings with three or more floors or over 9 meters in height, construction must be based on products from companies that have obtained real-scale fire test certificates for wet or dry types according to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Notice No. 2022-84, requiring meticulous supervision by construction site managers, architects, supervisors, and building permit authorities.

CEO Han Gap-ho said, “The recent success of DK Board-X in passing both wet and dry real-scale fire tests under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport notices proves the excellent quality of the quasi-non-combustible insulation material and mortar,” adding, “We plan to further solidify our status as a pioneering company in Simjae non-combustible insulation materials.”

Meanwhile, DK Board plans to participate consecutively in the Seoul Kyunghyang Housing Fair held at SETEC in Seoul from the 27th to the 30th and the 63rd MBC Architecture Expo held at KINTEX in Ilsan from May 11 to 14 to promote the excellence of the DK Board-X product.