Last year, a project in Chengdu, the client temporarily notified the procurement team that all carpets needed to provide B1-level testing reports for fire inspection. The supplier responded that \u201dsome testing reports are B1 level, but the current batch has not yet been tested.\u201d As a result, the project was delayed by two weeks. Calculate the daily comprehensive cost of hotel preparation\u2014at least hundreds of thousands.<\/p>\n
I have seen this kind of scenario more than ten times in recent years. To be honest, most hotel procurement teams\u201d understanding of flame retardant standards stops at \u201dhaving this thing is enough,\" and few truly understand:How exactly is B1 level tested? Can different testing standards be mutually recognized? Is it enough to just have the report?<\/strong><\/p>\n First, clarify a concept. The domestic hotel carpet flame retardant requirements are based on\u00a0GB 8624-2012 \"Classification of the Combustibility of Building Materials and Products\"<\/strong>, which divides combustion performance into four levels:<\/p>\n Most people understand \u201dB1 Level\u201d as a composite indicator. According to GB 8624, B1 level requires meeting the following conditions:<\/p>\n 1\ufe0f\u20e3\u00a0Critical Heat Flux (CHF) \u2265 4.5 kW\/m\u00b2<\/strong>\u2014 In simple terms, it means the material can extinguish itself after the fire source is removed and does not burn continuously<\/p>\n 2\ufe0f\u20e3\u00a0Smoke Toxicity Level not lower than T1<\/strong>\u2014 The smoke toxicity produced by burning carpets must not exceed standards<\/p>\n 3\ufe0f\u20e3\u00a0Burning drips cannot ignite filter paper<\/strong>\u2014 Melted dripping materials cannot become a new fire source<\/p>\n What is often overlooked here is item 2.<\/strong>\u00a0Many carpet materials are inherently flame-retardant, but after adding flame retardants, the smoke toxicity during combustion exceeds standards, and they still fail B1. We tested a batch of samples with SGS; initial flame retardancy all passed, but all smoke toxicity alarms triggered\u2014flame retardants themselves become the source of the problem.<\/p>\n The most common flame-retardant testing methods for domestic hotel projects:<\/p>\n The biggest pitfall:<\/strong>\u00a0Some suppliers provide test reports for ASTM E648 Class I, which only indicate compliance with the US NFPA 101 standard, and do not have a direct correlation with GB 8624 B1 grade. International brand hotels operating domestically still rely on national standard reports for fire inspection.<\/p>\n This is perhaps the most common issue in the industry. When sending samples for testing, a batch of material with special flame-retardant formulations and processes is used. During mass production, to reduce costs, it is replaced with ordinary yarns or low-weight backing fabrics. The test report is genuine, and the product is genuine \u2014 but they are not the same thing.<\/p>\n Last year, for an Intercontinental project in East China, we proactively requested athird-party batch sampling and testing<\/strong>, and sent it for re-testing at SGS. It\u2019s not that we don\u2019t trust our process, but from yarn input to finished product, any fluctuation in any process could affect the flame-retardant performance. The final report showed all qualified, the customer was assured, and we felt at ease.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udca1\u00a0Tips:<\/strong>\u00a0Adding a clause in procurement terms for \u201dbulk batch sampling and re-testing\u201d \u2014 the cost is usually 3,000-5,000 yuan per test, which is negligible compared to the value of the entire carpet batch, but it can close the risk gap of 99%.<\/p>\n Not all carpets have the same flame-retardant solutions. Different materials and processes have completely different underlying logic for flame retardancy:<\/p>\n Nylon 66 carpets (mainly tufting process):<\/strong><\/p>\n Wool carpets:<\/strong><\/p>\n Handmade gun\u523a carpets:<\/strong><\/p>\n Step 1: Confirm the product scope covered by the report<\/strong><\/p>\n The test report will specify the product model, batch number, and specifications. Verify whether it matches the SKU you purchased. Some suppliers provide a report covering over ten models, but in reality, only one was tested.<\/p>\n Step 2: Confirm the qualification of the testing organization<\/strong><\/p>\n Domestic recognized flame-retardant testing organizations:<\/p>\n Step 3: Confirm the validity period of the report<\/strong><\/p>\n Many procurement staff do not know \u2014 testing reports usually do not have a strict validity period, but industry practice suggeststhat reports for the same product within 2 years<\/strong>can be trusted. If your product's process, raw materials, or formulation have not changed, you can continue to use the same report. However, if there are any changes, re-testing is required.<\/p>\n Step Four: Prepare an \u201dEmergency Plan\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Our suggestion to the customer: Reserve spare blankets for each project amounting to **3%-5%**, in the same batch and process as the main batch. In case sampling and testing are required during acceptance of a certain area, it will not affect the overall progress.<\/p>\n The 'Technical Specification for Fire Performance Evaluation of Building Interior Materials' (Draft for Comments) released by the China Academy of Building Research at the end of 2025 sent a signal:The requirements for smoke toxicity levels are becoming stricter.<\/strong>\u00a0The current standard level T1 is the entry threshold; the new regulation may require key areas to reach T0 level.<\/p>\n What does this mean? It directly impacts the carpet manufacturing side\u2014flame retardant formulations need to be re-optimized. Simply increasing the amount of flame retardant to meet standards is no longer feasible, as higher flame retardant use may increase smoke toxicity. The solution is: start from the raw fiber material, select base fibers with higher oxygen index, and reduce reliance on flame retardants.<\/p>\n Esen Carpet's R&D team has been working on this since 2024\u2014collaborating with two domestic chemical fiber factories to developModified Nylon 66 yarns<\/strong>that increase the base oxygen index to24%<\/strong>and reduce flame retardant usage by approximately35%<\/strong>while maintaining smoke toxicity at T0 level.<\/p>\n The core issue is not whether there is a report, but whether the procurement party manages flame retardancy as a \u201dsystematic indicator.\u201d A report is just the result; if any link in the chain\u2014from raw materials to process, quality control, and re-inspection\u2014is disconnected, that paper is just a formality.<\/p>\n If you are preparing to purchase hotel carpets, here are some suggestions:<\/strong><\/p>\n Our team has served over a hundred hotel projects. The experience with flame retardancy is: the earlier the standard communication, the smoother the later acceptance process. If you need specific testing plans or report templates for reference, you can directly communicate with the technical team of Yisen Carpet\u2014after all, product safety and compliance are the bottom line for both manufacturers and purchasers.<\/p>\n \u3010Note\u3011<\/strong><\/p>\n \u53bb\u5e74\u6210\u90fd\u4e00\u4e2a\u9879\u76ee\uff0c\u4e1a\u4e3b\u65b9\u4e34\u65f6\u901a\u77e5\u91c7\u8d2d\uff0c\u8bf4\u6d88\u9632\u9a8c\u6536\u8981\u6c42\u6240\u6709\u5730\u6bef\u63d0\u4f9bB1\u7ea7\u68c0\u6d4b\u62a5\u544a\u3002\u4f9b\u5e94\u5546\u90a3\u8fb9\u7ed9\u7684\u56de\u590d\u662f̶ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hangyedongtai"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.essence-carpet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.essence-carpet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.essence-carpet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.essence-carpet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.essence-carpet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.essence-carpet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.essence-carpet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.essence-carpet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.essence-carpet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.essence-carpet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n1. What exactly does B1 flame retardant level test?<\/h2>\n
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\n \nLevel<\/th>\n Name<\/th>\n Applicable scope for hotels<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n A Level<\/td>\n Non-combustible materials<\/td>\n Evacuation stairs, fire elevator lobbies, etc.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n B1 Level<\/strong><\/td>\n Difficult-to-burn materials<\/strong><\/td>\n Guest rooms, corridors, banquet halls, conference rooms<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n B2 Level<\/td>\n Combustible materials<\/td>\n Generally not suitable for hotel public areas<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n B3 Level<\/td>\n Flammable Materials<\/td>\n Prohibited from Use<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\nSecond, B1 level testing, hiding several \u201dtraps\u201d<\/h2>\n
Trap one: Testing standards do not match the applicable scenarios<\/h3>\n
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\n \nTesting standards<\/th>\n Test Content<\/th>\n Applicable Scenarios<\/th>\n Relationship with Level B1<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n GB\/T 11785-2005<\/td>\n Radiant Heat Source Method (Critical Radiant Flux)<\/td>\n Dedicated for Flooring Materials<\/td>\n Mandatory Item for Level B1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n GB\/T 8626-2007<\/td>\n Ignition and Combustion Performance (30s\/15s)<\/td>\n General Building Materials<\/td>\n Auxiliary Indicator for Level B1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n GB\/T 17658-1999<\/td>\n Carpet Combustion Performance Test<\/td>\n Vertical Combustion of Carpet<\/td>\n Additional Requirements for Some Items<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n ASTM E648<\/td>\n Critical Radiant Flux (American Standard)<\/td>\n International Brand Hotels<\/td>\n Method Cited by NFPA 101<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Pit two: The sample sent for testing and the supplied product are two different things.<\/h3>\n
\n3. Differences in flame retardancy of carpets with different processes<\/h2>\n
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\n4. What else does procurement need to do after obtaining the B1 report?<\/h2>\n
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\nSection V: Trends in Flame Retardant Standards for 2026-2027<\/h2>\n
\nReturning to the earlier case of acceptance delay<\/h2>\n
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