Fire stopping in construction?
A Firestop or fire-stopping is a form of passive fire protection that is used to seal around openings and between joints in a fire-resistance-rated wall or floor assembly. Fire stops are designed to maintain the fireproofing of a wall or floor assembly allowing it to impede the spread of fire and smoke.
The purpose of passive fire protection
Passive Fire Protection is built into the structure to provide stability and into walls and floors to separate the building into areas of manageable risk – compartments. These areas are designed to restrict the growth and spread of fire allowing occupants to escape and offering protection for firefighters
Even if the fire does eventually spread, passive fire protection systems greatly improve the chances of those present in the building safely exiting it, by containing the blaze for a length of time. In addition, they serve to protect the structural integrity of the property and reduce the likelihood of collapse.
Active vs Passive Fire Protection
Passive fire protection breaks the building into “compartments” and prevents the spread of fire through the use of fire-resistance rated walls and floors. It utilizes fire doors to help further compartmentalize the structure and dampers to prevent the spread of fire and smoke throughout the ducts of the building.
Fact
Over 70 percent of businesses involved in a major fire either do not reopen or subsequently fail within three years of the fire. It is crucial for businesses to have proper fire protection in place. Passive fire protection is an essential component of fire safety and structural fire protection for businesses. Along with active fire protection, these two systems work together to suppress and stop fires, allowing people to evacuate quickly, and minimizing damage to important equipment, machinery, and documents
Which is better?
One system is not better than another. Both active and passive fire protection play a key role in protecting buildings, equipment, and people. Passive fire protection is about containing the fire while active fire protection is about stopping the fire. While the systems work independently, but both systems need to be functioning properly to suppress and stop a fire.
Compartmentation
Fire barriers, firewalls, fire partitions, and smoke barriers are all included in Compartmentation. Fire barriers include fire-rated walls, floors, and ceilings (often made of concrete, combination wood, gypsum, or masonry). These barriers are used to limit the spread of fire in a building and allow safe egress. Walls extend from a fire-rated floor to the fire-rated ceiling above, and continue into concealed spaces for full protection.
Our PFP services
- Sealing of Mechanical /Electrical/ Plumbing through Wall / Slab penetrations
- Sealing of Structural through wall/Slab penetrations
- Sealing of cavities
- Sealing of Curtain Wall/spandrel area in façade for commercial buildings
- Top of the Wall joint/Construction joints
- Fire rated intumescent Cable coatings in Industries
