The 3M Graphic Film Fire-Rating Matrix

How to read a fire rating

ASTM E84 — the tunnel test — reports two numbers: a Flame Spread Index and a Smoke Developed Index. The flame spread number sets the class, and most building codes separately want smoke developed at 450 or less. 3M's own cover letters print the class boundaries:

What the class alone will not tell you is what the film was mounted on when it earned that number, or whether the number belongs to that film at all. Both are recorded per row below.

The evidence behind each rating

Every row in this matrix is labelled with one of three bases. This is the distinction the category normally leaves out, and it is the one that matters when somebody official asks for paperwork.

Tested

A named third-party report tests this exact product.

Extrapolated by 3M

No test of this product. 3M supplies a signed letter attaching a sibling product's report and stating it is expected to perform comparably — a legitimate manufacturer position, but not a test of the film you are installing.

Not published

The current bulletin states no fire result and refers the question to 3M or the online catalog. Absence of a number in the document is not a failing grade — it means you must request the certificate for your lot.

What the matrix shows

A flame-spread class is a result for one specimen build, not a property of the film

Nine of the tested products here were mounted on fiber- or glass-reinforced cement board; 480Cv3 was tested on 5/8 inch Type X gypsum board instead. Same manufacturer, same test method, different backing. Because ASTM E84 measures how flame travels along a mounted assembly, the substrate is part of the result — which is why 'is this film Class A' is not fully answerable without 'mounted on what', and why a class quoted with no substrate is an incomplete answer to give a fire marshal.

'Expected comparable' is a manufacturer position, not a test

At least five products in this set — IJ180Cv3-10, IJ40C-20R, overlaminates 8518 and 8520, and 180-10 relative to 180C-10 — are covered by signed 3M letters that attach a sibling product's report and state the product is expected to perform comparably. That is a legitimate and documented basis, and for most purposes it is accepted. It is still not a test of the film in your booth, and the distinction is invisible unless you open the PDF. This matrix labels every row with which one you are getting.

A low flame-spread index does not mean the specimen did not burn

The 180C-10 report records the specimen as consumed from 0 to 8 feet with large blisters over the remainder, and the 3630 report logs blistering to 24 feet with charring to 8 feet and consumption to 6 feet — both while returning a flame spread index of 5. The index measures the rate at which flame front travels relative to red oak, not whether the material survived. Reading 'Class A' as 'will not burn' is the most common misreading of these documents.

Absence of a number in a current bulletin is normal, and it is your action item

IJ180mC, 8170 and the 3645/3647 floor overlaminates all have live bulletins that state no fire result and route the question to a 3M contact or the online catalog — in some cases while a test report for a related product sits elsewhere on 3M's own server. If your venue or AHJ wants a certificate, that request has to be made for your product and lot; it will not be satisfied by the bulletin.

Floor films are certified for slipping, not burning — do not conflate the two

3645, 3647 and 8550M carry UL 410 slip-resistance classifications with a static coefficient of friction above 0.50. UL 410 is a walkway safety standard. It says nothing about flame spread, and a floor graphic approved as slip-resistant may still need a separate flame certificate for the same installation.

US Class A and EU Class B-s1,d0 are different scales and are not interchangeable

DI-NOC is described as Class A under the US ASTM E84 and NFPA 101 framing in its technical data sheet, and as Class B-s1,d0 under EN 13501-1 in its EU declaration of performance. Both statements are correct in their own system. Quoting the European class to a US fire marshal, or the reverse, answers a question nobody asked.

Film by film — 16 products, 14 with a named test report

3M Controltac Plus 180C-10 and 180-10 · Wrap and wall vinyl

Two separate reports exist, a decade apart, on two slightly different cement-board specifications — a useful illustration that an E84 number is a result for one specimen build, not a property of the film.

Sources: 3M — Product Flammability Information, Controltac Plus 180C-10 (Omega Point Laboratories report 15300-109509, tested 17 Sep 2001) · 3M — Product Flammability Information, 180-10 White (Commercial Testing Company report 11-12111, 20 Dec 2011)

3M IJ180Cv3-10 (Controltac with Comply v3) · Wrap and wall vinyl

The single most-specified wrap film in the trade has no fire test of its own. 3M's fire document for IJ180Cv3-10 is a cover letter attaching the 180C-10 report, stating that due to similar film construction it is expected to perform comparably. If a fire marshal asks for the test on the film in your booth, this is the document that exists.

Sources: 3M — Product Flammability Information, IJ180Cv3-10 (cover letter attaching the 180C-10 report)

3M IJ180mC Print Wrap Film · Wrap and wall vinyl

A current bulletin with no fire section to quote. This is the common case, not an oversight — request the certificate rather than assuming a class.

Sources: 3M Product Bulletin IJ180mC — Print Wrap Film (May 2026)

3M Scotchcal IJ35-10 · Wrap and wall vinyl

The most recently tested film in this set, to the current E84 revision.

Sources: 3M — Flammability Test Report IJ35-10 (Commercial Testing Company report 23-08020, 2 Aug 2023)

3M Envision Print Wrap Film SV480mC and LX480mC · Wrap and wall vinyl (non-PVC)

One report covers both films.

Sources: 3M — SV480mC / LX480mC ASTM E84 report (Commercial Testing Company report 19-12102, 5 Dec 2019)

3M Envision 480Cv3 (legacy) · Wrap and wall vinyl

The substrate exception. Every other tested film in this set sits on cement board; this one was tested on Type X gypsum. Same manufacturer, same test method, different backing — which is exactly why an E84 class quoted without its substrate is an incomplete answer.

Sources: 3M — Flammability Test Report 480Cv3 (Commercial Testing Company report 13-09097, 9 Sep 2013)

3M IJ40C-10R and IJ40C-20R · Wrap and wall vinyl

10R tested; 20R carries an extrapolation letter.

Sources: 3M — Flammability Test Report IJ40C-10R (Commercial Testing Company report 07-08140, 13 Aug 2007) · 3M — Product Flammability Information, IJ40C-20R (cover letter attaching the IJ40C-10R report)

3M Scotchcal Overlaminates 8518, 8519, 8520 · Overlaminate

Only 8519 was tested. Both 8518 and 8520 carry letters extrapolating from it. Since the overlaminate is the outermost layer facing the flame, this is the extrapolation most worth knowing about.

Sources: 3M — Flammability Test Report 8519 overlaminate (Commercial Testing Company report 06-10313, 13 Oct 2006) · 3M — Product Flammability Information, 8520 overlaminate (cover letter attaching the 8519 report)

3M Envision Overlaminates 8548G, 8549L, 8550M · Overlaminate

The bulletin points to E84 reports for 8548G and 8550M in the online catalog rather than printing numbers; we did not obtain those reports, so no index is published here. 8550M's slip certification is a different standard entirely.

Sources: 3M Product Bulletin GP-1 — graphic protection products (Envision overlaminates 8548G / 8549L / 8550M)

3M Scotchcal Floor Overlaminates 3645 and 3647 · Floor graphic overlaminate

The floor-graphic trap: these carry a slip certification, not a flame one. A film 'UL classified' for floors says nothing about flame spread.

Sources: 3M Product Bulletin — Scotchcal Luster Overlaminate 3645 and Matte Overlaminate 3647

3M Scotchcal Translucent 3630 · Translucent / light box

The film behind most backlit signage and light boxes.

Sources: 3M — Flammability Test Report, Scotchcal Translucent 3630 (Omega Point Laboratories report 15300-100595 supplement, tested 10 Oct 1996)

3M Wrap Film 2080 · Colour-change wrap

Sources: 3M — Product Flammability ASTM E84 Test Report, Wrap Film 2080 (report 20-02212, 20 Feb 2020)

3M DI-NOC Architectural Finishes · Architectural film

Two documents, two different classification systems, and they are not interchangeable. The EU declaration is the one with a specific class in it — and it excludes the EX- and DG-suffix products.

Sources: 3M DI-NOC Architectural Finishes — Technical Data Sheet, Revision S (March 2024) · 3M — Declaration of Performance No. 3M DI-NOC-8, EU Regulation 305/2011 (5 March 2025)

3M FASARA Glass Finishes · Architectural glass film

One of the few 3M graphics bulletins that prints a fire classification directly in its properties table.

Sources: 3M Product Bulletin — FASARA Glass Finishes (January 2025)

3M Scotchcal ElectroCut 7125 and 7725 · Cut vinyl / lettering

3M states the class in writing; the numeric indices were not in the document we retrieved, so we publish the class and not numbers we did not read.

Sources: 3M — Product Flammability Information, Scotchcal ElectroCut 7125 and 7725

3M Window Graphic Film 8170-P50 and 8170-P40 · Window / perforated

Sources: 3M Product Bulletin — Window Graphic Film 8170-P50 and 8170-P40

Related references

A fire rating is only half the question — the other half is what the building you are installing in will accept. Our Venue Graphics-Rules Index covers the flame-certification, adhesive and rigging rules at 34 U.S. convention venues and the fire codes behind them. If your graphic lives outdoors in the desert, what Las Vegas heat does to film warranties covers 3M's and Avery's own desert-zone reductions.