text: Various countries have tests for determining non-combustibility of materials. Most involve the heating of a specified quantity of the test specimen for a set duration. Usually, the material must not support combustion and must not lose more than a certain amount of mass. As a general rule of thumb, concrete, steel, and ceramics - in other words inorganic substances - pass these tests, so building codes list them as suitable and sometimes even mandate their use in certain applications. In Canada, for instance, firewalls must be made of concrete.