Recent experimental results and developments on the Resistive Plate Chambers for the CMS experiment

Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) have been chosen as dedicated trigger detectors for the CMS experiment at the LHC. The expected severe operating conditions have required an intense research and development activity on these detectors over the past years. Experimental results on overall performance of large chambers, rate capability, ageing and photon sensitivity are reviewed. In all of these tests the detector has proven to achieve good enough performance for successful use at the LHC