WUI is Growing and Testing Requirements are Increasing

By Cass Jacoby, RCS Reporter.

As wildfires are becoming more commonplace, WUI is growing and products that are tested and approved like Pli-Dek are becoming mandatory.

Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) is a term commonly known in areas that experience wildfires. WUI is the zone of transition between unoccupied land and human development; it is the line, area or zone where structures and other human development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels.

You might think that WUI fires only occur in western states or won’t affect you, but according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Institute of Standards and Technology :

• More than 46 million residences in 70,000 communities in the United States are at risk for WUI fires.
• Between 2002 and 2016, an average of over 3,000 structures per year were lost to WUI fires in the United States.
• The WUI area continues to grow by approximately two million acres per year.

As the WUI continues to grow, these fires will become an increasing problem for fire departments across the country.

As of November 2020, the California Residential Building Code requires that all decking materials must pass a 30-minute ASTM E84 fire test, which evaluates key fire resistance characteristics of building materials. Previously, California required that decking materials only pass a 10-minute test.

While California legislators are doing everything in their power to shore up the fire resistance of homes and buildings in their state as a result of several consecutive record-setting wildfire seasons, how will this change impact code and testing across North America?

The Pli-Dek “F” System is the only Waterproof Deck System with a BML Listing for Decking for Wildland Urban Interface {W.U.I}. The high-performance deck and patio system from ICP has passed a 30-minute ASTM E84 fire test, now a requirement for decking materials in California. View the Pli-Dek/ICP W.U.I. listing on the Office of the State Fire Marshal Building Materials Listing website. 

Learn more about ICP Group in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit icpgroup.com.