What is fire stopping?Posted On: Wednesday 5th December 2018 Back to Blog Listing
What is fire stopping?
Fire stopping is best defined as the sealing of any openings to prevent fire (including smoke and heat) from passing through multiple building compartments. The spread of a fire is contained by creating fire resisting compartments, which subdivide the building (vertically or horizontally). Buildings must ensure that any openings and gaps are fire stopped to restrict both lateral and vertical fire spread.
The Wiki firestop definition is:
A firestop is a fire protection system made of various components used to seal openings and joints in fire-resistance rated wall or floor assemblies. For penetrating cables, these can also be called as Multi Cable Transits (MCTs). Firestops are designed to restore the continuous fire-resistance of wall or floor assemblies, impeding the spread of fire by filling the openings in them with fire-resistant materials
Fire stopping Products.
Fire sleeves are designed to fill or seal an aperture created by pipes or cables passing through a fire-rated wall or ceiling. In a fire situation the sleeve expands to fill the available space between the service and the substrate. In the case of plastic pipes the sleeve will crush and seal off the pipe preventing the passage of fire and smoke to the adjacent compartment.
Fire collars are designed to maintain fire resistance levels. They do this by surrounding pipes and other penetrations with intumescent compounds that expand throughout the fire. This prevents flames and hot gases passing into other compartments
Fire covers are designed for stopping fires of luminaires in fire rated suspended ceilings. In a fire situation, the cover expands internally to fill all the available space with a fire resistant, highly insulating char
Fire sealants and gap fillers expand when heated at high temperatures, to prevent the spread of fire and smoke. There are different kinds of sealants for different substrates and applications
Download the Walraven Fire Stopping Checklist – it includes 15 things to consider when looking for fire stopping products.
Considerations to make when selecting passive fire protection products
Ultimately the selection and correct installation of a fire stop can potentially save people’s lives. It is therefore a decision that should involve qualified parties to ensure effective fire stopping solutions are specified. All buildings are different, and it is important to consider not just the product you require, but also the environment and situation into which it is being installed. Each construction situation can be different, so simply using the same firestop you have used on a previous build may not be the answer.
With the huge range of fire protection products that are now required by building regulations, it can be difficult to understand which ones you need. The simple answer is, all of them. A functional firestop system is only made when a combination of products are all working together. Without the use of one single product, the rest of the fireproofing system could fail.
Talk to our fire stopping experts
The dedicated Walraven team have over 30 years’ experience in fire stopping. They have worked on huge fire stopping projects such as The Shard and are experts in both new build projects and remediation. They are willing to discuss your fire stopping projects and assist you with problem-solving, technical design and more.