Passive Fire Protection Presentation

INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW

“ C h e c k m a t e c o n t a i n s f i r e ! ”

The Company

• Formed: 1990

• Offices: Yorkshire, London, Hampshire

& agencies in Dubai & Bahrain

• Core Services Include:

• Intumescent Paint Spraying

• Firestopping

• Installation of Fire Barriers

• Drylining

• Air Sealing & Integrity Testing

• Fire Doors

• Fire Compliance Surveys

Passive fire protection is the primary measure integrated within the constructional fabric of a building to provide inherent fire safety and protection by responding against flame, heat and smoke to maintain the fundamental requirements of building compartmentation, structural stability, fire separation and safe means of escape.

Passive fire protection measures achieve their intended purpose by raising the fire resistance of the structure, protecting the structure against the effects of fire, reducing fire spread through secondary ignition, limiting the movement of flame and smoke, and minimising the danger of fire-induced collapse or structural distortion.

Passive fire protection design, incorporating passive fire protection materials, systems and assemblies, serves by fire containment to protect life, safeguard the building structure, protect assets, maintain building serviceability after fire, minimise rebuild costs, and facilitate quick business recovery and continuity

So what is Passive Fire Protection?

In simple terms…..?

The ‘fabric’ of the building should be designed, constructed and maintained to reduce or eliminate the spread of fire products around the building.

To contain the fire to the area of origin.

Protect lives and the structure of the building.

Why Passive Fire Protection

is important

Two Important Questions

Why are new buildings not always fire compliant?

Why are fire compartments not always adequately maintained?

Less Resilience To Fire

“It would not be unreasonable to assume that during the

past decade, our commercial building stock has

become less resilient to fire – and this goes some way

to explaining the steep increase in fire losses”.

Roy Watkinson

Technical & Commercial Insurance Director, AXA Insurance

Source: FRM Journal, March 2011

Building Regulations Requirements

“If a fire separating element is to be effective, every joint and

imperfection of fit, or opening to allow services to pass through

the element, should be adequately protected by sealing or

firestopping so that the fire resistance of the element is not

impaired”

“Every compartment wall and compartment floor should form a

complete barrier to fire between the compartments they

separate and have the appropriate fire resistance” ..... there

should be continuity at the junctions of the fire-resisting

elements enclosing a compartment and any openings from one

compartment to another should not present a weakness”

Building Regulations Approved Document B; B3 section 10

Traditional Build

“Approved Document B was developed for

easy and forgiving masonry construction . .

Modern Build

. . with modern methods of

construction the room for error is

small if not microscopic”.

Dr Jim Glockling,

Technical Director,

Fire Protection Association

Structural movement in a fire

Structural movement in a fire

A ‘competitive tender’ issue?

Qualified . . . but not in fire stopping

Irresponsibility

Passive Fire Protection . . .

designed & specified requires:

•Correct products

•Correct installation

•3rd

Party accreditation

•Compartmentation management

To last the lifetime of a building

Fully Compliant

The BRE Approval process involves a whole series of

rigorous checks which are on-going & it is because of this

assessment process that the LPCB Approval Mark is

recognised worldwide as a badge of quality for Passive Fire

Protection Installation.

3rd

Party Accreditation

Quality Assured

A complete paper trail

Investigate Ceiling Voids . . .

Roof Voids . . .

and Areas of Strategic Importance

“The installation of a fire door is a complex

procedure requiring a detailed understanding of

the important role played by each component &

therefore needs to be undertaken by someone

with the correct training”.

(BWF-CERTIFIRE)

Fire Doors

Norman Macdonald, BRE Principal Consultant, checking

upgraded fire doors at Ormskirk Hospital

It is estimated by BWF Certifire that more than 80% of installed one

hour fire doors will in reality not provide one hour fire rating

Fire Doors

“Even the simplest design of fire door can

rarely tolerate error in installation and one

hours fire resistance can easily be reduced to

less than ten minutes, but you won’t

necessarily be able to see the problem unless

there is a fire.”

Peter Barker, Chiltern International Fire

Fire Doors

Fire Door Inspection Scheme

Achievement of First FDIS

Diploma Improves Service to

Clients

Checkmate Fire Solutions Ltd Compliance

Manager Clive Reilly, seen being presented

with his diploma by Gary Amer, Chief

Executive of the Guild of Architectural

Ironmongers, is the first industry

professional to have successfully passed

the FDIS Diploma in Fire Doors.

The Diploma is a key part of the recently

launched scheme that aims to transform

knowledge and understanding about the

critical role of fire doors and is believed to

be the first of its kind in Europe.

Says Clive:

“Since Checkmate introduced a service for the maintenance and

management of fire doors we have been keen to have a qualification

that proved our competence in this area. Taking the FDIS Diploma

confirmed we knew a lot and also enabled us to rectify gaps in our

knowledge, broadening our expertise, which will benefit our clients.”

Fire Door Inspection & Remediation

BEFORE

Fire Door Inspection & Remediation

AFTER

Fire Doors

Three ways to keep fire doors open

Above the door?

The LPCB Certificate states that it only remains valid “providing that

the passive fire protection is checked

on an annual basis & any

damage or defects

rectified by a competent

person in line with the

Regulatory Reform

Order 2005”

On-going Inspection & Re-Certification

POOR MANAGEMENT -

the consequences can be tragic

Six killed in tower block blaze

Three children and three adults have died after a fire swept through a tower block in south-east

London.

July 2009

Owners of fire death Penhallow Hotel to be prosecuted

The owners of a Newquay hotel which caught fire, resulting in three deaths, are to be

prosecuted for fire safety breaches, Cornwall Council says.

Sep 2010

Staying Within The Law

“Where necessary in order to safeguard the safety of relevant

persons the responsible person must ensure that the premises

and any facilities, equipment and devices provided in respect of

the premises under this Order….. are subject to a suitable

system of maintenance and are maintained in an efficient state,

in efficient working order and in good repair.”

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

“doing it the right way, first time around, will always be the most cost-effective course of

action”.

(ASFP Red Book)

Checkmate -

providing practical

fire & smoke

containment solutions

www.checkmatefire.com