FIRE STOPPING
Fire stopping is essential to preserve your building’s fire compartmentation.
Fire stopping is of the utmost importance in preserving your building’s fire compartmentation as part of your buildings passive fire protection system.
When utilities or other services need to pass through a fire compartment, it is essential to uphold or reinstate the compartment’s integrity at the breach point. This can be accomplished by using fire-resistant materials with appropriate ratings (BS EN1366-3:2009) to mend any holes, flaws, or damage and re-establish the seal within the compartments. These sealing systems include Intumescent mastics, Ablative Batts, fire barriers and fire compounds.
Simply filling a gap with generic fire-retardant materials is insufficient to restore the fire compartment rating. The materials chosen for a repair must adhere to the original building design and specifications.
When do you need Fire stopping?
Areas within your building will be designed to resist fire for a specific period. To maintain this standard, we recommend regular inspections of your fire compartment.
There are numerous motives for carrying out fire stopping tasks, with the two most prevalent being:
- The need to accommodate new services or structures, such as ductwork, wiring, conduit, piping, roof joists, purlins, etc., that penetrate the fire compartment.
- Responding to a fire compartment inspection that has revealed breaches requiring remediation.
What is the legislation around Fire stopping?
If fire stopping work carried out on a premises doesn’t comply with UK regulations, the ‘Accountable Person’ may be served an enforcement notice, or even worse, served a fine or potential prosecution.
Therefore, you must be fully aware of the different regulations and what they entail. Here’s a breakdown of the key regulations you should be aware of to ensure you always remain compliant:
- The Building Regulations 2019
- Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
- The Building Safety Act 2022
What products can be used for Fire stopping?
- Intumescent Sealants/foams
- Fire Batt minerals
- Fire Collars/Sleeves
- Fire Putty/Mortar
- Ceiling fan Cuff
- Fire Pillows
What about Fire doors?
Where doors breach a fire compartment, fire doors must be fitted. They are designed to resist the spread of fire and toxic gases to meet the requirements of BS 476-22 and or BS EN 1634-1.
Fire doors must be regularly inspected to ensure they are still fit for purpose and fulfil your fire risk assessment requirements.
Routine maintenance and fire door checks should be carried out at regular interval. This ensures the doors fitted in your building will perform as expected in the event of a fire. Routine wear and tear, especially in high traffic areas, can lead to damage to the door itself, or its fitting – both of which are crucial for performance in the event of a fire.
New installations require a thorough inspection, to ensure they have been fitted correctly and their performance meets the requirements as set out in the building compartmentation plan
How can we help? ECE Group Services - UK Fire Stopping Contractors
Please call the ECE Group Services team on 0203 757 7150
We offer specialist cleaning services including grease extract ventilation cleaning, laundry extract ventilation cleaning and ductwork cleaning. We also offer fire safety solutions including fire compartmentation and testing and inspecting.
Learn More About Our Fire Stopping Services and Solutions
Please get in touch to discuss your requirements or if you have any questions about our services. We provide flexible, bespoke solutions throughout the UK