Description

ULC 717.1 – Standard for Flat Wall Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) Units

This Standard specifies the requirements for stay in place, modular expanded polystyrene (EPS) Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) units. Once filled with concrete, the ICF units remain in place as the thermal insulation for the resulting cast-in-place concrete wall of uniform cross-section and thickness. This Standard is restricted to ICFs that enclose uniform monolithic concrete walls.

This Standard provides requirements for products that consist of moulded expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation panels that are connected by cross ties to form the ICF and for the performance of cross tie flanges as a substrate for the attachment of interior and exterior finishes. This Standard sets performance requirements for the ICF unit in its primary function as a stay-in-place concrete form and for the materials that make up the form unit, along with the test methods to determine compliance with the performance requirements.

The fire performance of the ICF unit material falls within the scopes of documents published by Authorities Having Jurisdiction, such as, but not limited to, Building Codes. The structural performance and the design of the concrete within the ICF unit fall within the scopes of CSA Standards CSA A23.1/A23.2 and CAN/CSA A23.3 or ACI Standard ACI 318.

Structural performance design methods for ICF units are not described in this Standard. Users are referred to engineering calculations or tests which establish that the ICF unit provides sufficient strength to contain concrete during placement and to resist the forces created by the fluid pressure of fresh concrete.