How to select the right fire stop

Standard fire collars are a popular choice when looking at fire sealing of pipe penetrations through fire walls.  They are suitable for use on plastic pipes and are usually made of steel with an inner lining of intumescent material which activates in the event of a fire. The intumescent expands and closes the hole left by the collapsing pipe, so retaining the structure’s integrity.  Once expanded, they will resist a fire for either two or four hours, depending on pipe material and application.

To correctly install on a wall penetration, a collar is needed on BOTH sides of the wall.  For floors/ceilings, a collar on one side is enough.

Benefits of standard fire collars for fire sealing

• They are a cost effective solution
• Most are easy to install on new builds, or when retro fitting
• They are available in a wide range of sizes

Our new Pacifyre® BFC Fire Collar is the perfect collar if you are looking for a reliable, standard solution that has the added reassurance of ETA Certification and CE Marking.

However, standard fire collars are not suited to ALL scenarios, and so it is important to consider the individual needs of each installation to ensure the correct type of fire sealing product is selected.  Some of the criteria that should be considered when choosing a fire stop includes:

• Pipe type – plastic or metal?
• Fire resistance period required
• Insulation requirement
• Wall, floor or linear gap
• Pipe movement expected? Vibration or thermal expansion?
• Mechanical strength? Load bearing?

When might a standard fire collar NOT be the right solution?

Metal Pipes – Standard fire collars are usually not suitable for fire sealing metal pipes.  The intumescent will not be able to crush a metal pipe in the same way it can a plastic pipe. You are likely to need a more specialist collar like our Pacifyre® EFC Endless Fire Collar or a pipe wrap or sleeve.

Movement or vibration – If there is significant movement expected either from the pipe’s thermal expansion, vibration or the building movement, then a standard collar may not be effective. A fire sleeve such as our Pacifyre® MKII Fire Sleeve has been installed in situations to deal with pipe movement. You can read our case study about its use in The Shard.

Noise insulation – Many buildings these days also require additional noise insulation from products, especially in built up areas like London.  A standard fire collar does not provide any noise insulation. Alternatives would be our Pacifyre® MKII Fire Sleeve which has special noise insulating benefits built-in, or our Pacifyre® AWM III Fire Collar which can be installed with noise insulation strips.

 Find out more about fire stopping