Abstract:36 specimens were tested under standard fire and large space fires. Effective thermal conductivities of intumescent coatings were calculated based on test measurements. The effect of the fire condition on thermal insulating properties of the intumescent coating was investigated, and the mechanism of difference in insulating properties was discussed. The results show that whether the reaction process is completed is dependent on the maximum temperature of fire, and that the foaming degree of coating was affected by the heating rate. Therefore, different expansion ratios and pore structures were obtained under varied fire conditions with the result that the insulating properties changed. The effective thermal conductivities of intumescent coatings under standard fire are much lower than that of large space fires, and the maximum difference is up to 65%. Increase in the temperature and the heating rate results in better insulating properties of the coating. It is unsafe to use the standard test result guides design of intumescent coating under large space fire. The variance degree of insulating properties for intumescent coating under large space fires was affected by coating thickness. The difference was smaller when the coating was thicker.