Inside a Korean KFI Fire Test Report: The Actual Numbers

When you source a fire-rated architectural film from Korea, you receive a certificate written in Korean, referencing a test regime you may not know. This post translates the substance: what Korea's KFI certification measures, what the pass thresholds are, and the actual measured values from the report behind the film we distribute.

Two Korean systems, one name

Korea has two certification routes that both use the word "quasi-non-combustible" (준불연). Knowing which one you are looking at matters.

• Building Act route: material quality recognition based on the cone calorimeter test (KS F ISO 5660-1) plus a gas toxicity test. No 45-degree flame test.
• KFI interior-decoration route (Korea Fire Institute, for venues regulated under the Multi-Use Business Act): heat release, gas toxicity and a 45-degree flame test, bundled in one certification.

The certificate behind Neotec SAVE is the KFI route (certificate No. 내장24-13, issued 2024). One structural point international buyers ask about: this certification is issued for the material itself, not for a film-plus-substrate assembly. That differs from, for example, Japan's ministerial approval model, where certification typically attaches to a film and designated non-combustible substrate combination.

The thresholds and the measured values

Test	Legal threshold	Measured
Total heat release, 10 min (cone calorimeter)	8 MJ/m² or less	0.57 / 0.73 / 0.83 MJ/m²
Time above 200 kW/m² peak heat release	10 s or less	0.0 s
Gas toxicity (mouse incapacitation time)	9 min or more	13 min 55 s / 14 min 54 s
45° flame: afterflame / afterglow	3 s / 5 s or less	0.0 s / 0.0 s
Char area / char length	30 cm² / 20 cm or less	2.5–3.4 cm² / 1.9–2.3 cm

The measured total heat release sits at roughly a tenth of the allowed maximum. We publish these numbers because they are verifiable: the certificate and test report are issued in the manufacturer's name, and scans are posted in our certificates section.

How to read this honestly

Two cautions we attach to every conversation. First, quasi-non-combustible is not non-combustible: the classification means heat release and smoke toxicity stayed under legal limits in a defined test, not that the material cannot burn. Second, a test chamber is not a real fire. What a rated finish contributes is slowing fire spread and preserving evacuation time, which is why regulations target escape-critical spaces.

If you are mapping this Korean grade to your own market's system, our standards comparison lines up the Korean classification against Japan's 準不燃, China's GB 8624 B1, the EU's B-s1,d0 and US Class A, including why "equivalent" should be read as "comparable level" rather than identical testing. For the chemistry side of the story, see why smoke, not flames, kills.

Questions about documentation for a specific project, or need the certificate scans in a submission package? Contact us and we will walk you through the paperwork.

Cover image: concept visualization (AI-generated), not a laboratory photograph.