INFOSANTIER

Under industry standards, fire risk levels are: low, medium, and high.

Fire resistance is a building element’s ability to maintain its stability, fire-tightness, and/or thermal insulation for a set period of time.

For natural stone, fire risk is low, since, regardless of type, natural stone doesn’t burn and doesn’t sustain flame. Natural stone doesn’t emit smoke or hot gases, and its fire resistance is high.

It also doesn’t help flames spread, and can even be used as a fire and smoke barrier.

These qualities make natural stone suitable for use in building evacuation and emergency-response routes. Likewise, access and traffic routes built from cobblestone are sized to accommodate emergency response vehicles.

As a building material, whether used in structures or finishes, natural stone is non-flammable and its properties don’t change significantly under fire conditions.