British Steel carried out four fire tests on the Cardington frame between 1995 and 1997. An additional two test were carried out by the Building Research Establishment (BRE). These test underpin much of the modern science of structural fire engineering in steel framed buildings with composite steel deck floors

The first test was carried out on a single unprotected beam and surrounding area of slab. Further tests were carried out in compartments varying in size from 50m² to 340m² with fire loadings provided by gas, wooden cribs and standard office furniture. Columns were protected but beams were not. Despite atmosphere temperatures of over 1200°C and temperatures on the unprotected steel beams of 1100°C in the worst case, no structural collapse took place. The full set of data from the four British Steel tests is to be found in this article. Descriptions of the tests and guidance on how to interpret the data can be found by following the link here.

Data from the two fire test carried out by the BRE can be found by following the link here. Data on a subsequent, stand alone test conducted by BRE can be found here.

1-D restrained plane beam test

2-D plane frame test

2-D Temperature data


Corner compartment test

Corner test Temperature data


Office fire (demonstration) test

Demonstration test Deflections and rotations