Fire resistance of wood-based panels is in addition to mechanical and sorption properties, an important property when considering its usability for construction applications. Increased fire resistance is achieved through fire retardant addition during panel production or by spraying fire-retardant on already finished panel. A potential downside of fire-retardant addition during panel production can be related to decreased mechanical properties. The work presented herein investigated the impact of fire-retardant addition on some relevant properties of particleboard. The fire-retardant was added to surface layer adhesive mixture only. As fire-retardant, the commercially available formulation Burnblock® was used. The main reason for targeted application (surface layer) of fire-retardant is related to the origin of first contact point at fire. This is usually with the material surface, hence it is more important to additionally protect the panel surface layer. Three-layer particleboard (thickness 16 mm, target density 0.65 g·cm-3) with and without fire-retardant in surface layer were prepared. The loading ratio of fire retardant was between 0 and 30 kg·m-3. The addition of fire-retardant influence properties of produced panels.

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