But first, Fire Stopping

During the planning stages of a construction project, there are endless considerations to be made including finding reliable construction workers and contractors, meeting local building regulations, choosing the right location, and selecting the correct materials for the job.

Running parallel to these factors is staying within a set budget for the project and running to a specific timeframe - exceeding either of these could be detrimental to the success of the development.

One factor that could result in exceeding both time and budget is neglecting to specify fire stopping solutions, which should be specified during the design phase, when the layout of rooms, service penetrations and fire escapes are outlined.

Leaving this until after construction can cost time and money – as service penetrations are notoriously hard to access once installed and can lead to costly repairs to walls or floors once access has been gained. This means that not only will you need to pay for retrofitting products, but you are likely to run into extended downtime for the installations themselves, as services will have to be removed, and then reinstalled to progressively seal the joints and gaps.

Fire protection

Reliable fire stopping products, which should comply with the Standard EN 1366-3 come in many forms, from coated batts to steel collars, and sealants to cavity barriers. These effectively close the gap between service penetrations, such as pipes, wires and cables and the floor or wall that they penetrate through. Closing these gaps means that, if a fire broke out in one room (or compartment), flames, smoke and heat will not be able to pass through these gaps to another room (or compartment).

Containing a fire to a single compartment protects not only the people in the building, by giving them a chance to evacuate, but also the building itself. 

Experts by your side, from the start

At Tremco CPG, our aim is to standardise the fire stopping procedure, ensuring that projects run to time and to budget. By offering expert advice and technical overview for each service, in terms of what product is used where, fire protection can be installed as a project progresses, without holding up surrounding construction work.

If you’d like to know more about fire stopping solutions, from our product brand Nullifire, please get in touch with us today.