Disaster Management. Often cited in terms of a length of time, fire resistance is the ability of a building material or an element of construction, in a fire to: (1) continue to bear a certain load for that length of time without failure or deflection; or (2) prevent fire passing from one compartment to another for that duration; or (3) both (1) and (2). Various test criteria exist under under the different Parts of BS 476 in relation to the fire resistances of different building materials/elements for varying applications