Become confident about passive fire protection in your installations

Avoid spread of fire in buildings with correct installation

What does passive fire protection mean for installation?

Passive fire protection involves design and correct installation elements, in fire compartments of buildings, which work to stop the fire from spreading through windows, doors, walls, and floors.  

These measures do not actively fight fire with sprinklers or alarms but allow fire to be contained until rescue services can arrive and extinguish it. 

In practice, this should not be a separate task or job. During the installation of HVAC, mechanical and electrical systems, openings are often created. If left unsealed, these openings can become the weakest points in a building’s fire protection. Fire and smoke could spread through openings like pipe and cable penetrations if they are not sealed properly. 

Negligence to properly treat such openings not only results in a general fire safety hazard but could also breach local building regulations. Often regulations make passive fire protection in buildings mandatory. Services such as pipes, cables, cable trays or ladders and ducts all need to be treated individually, and fire stopped with tested and certified products. 

Choosing poor quality products or late planning can lead to rework or unsafe situations:

• It is important to pay attention to penetration, joints and void spaces during installations
• If penetrations are not sealed correctly, fire compartments fail and fire could spread faster
• It is important to seal every opening you create even during maintenance checks to continue with fire resistance of walls and floors
• The type of service, material, and size all influence the solution and can ensure the installation remains compliant and safe

Why it matters on site

It is therefore best to establish a clear scope of work prior to commencement on site and discuss with the building owner or the principal contractor. Make sure what is included in the package, whether the planned work will involve the breach of any fire compartment boundaries and how firestopping will be treated if that is the case.

Awareness and clear definition of scheduled jobs/maintenance is an easy way to plan accordingly and avoid unnecessary costs. Pushing firestopping to the end of a project when the cost of retrofit will become much higher and possibly unexpected.

Why installers hesitate

Passive fire protection or fire stopping is not impossible, but often the hesitation comes from uncertainty. It can feel complex due to

• Different regulations
• Many product combinations
• Specific installation rules
• Risk of non-compliance

It is not necessary for installers to be specifically passive fire specialists, but the right support, tools, and systems can help you do the job with confidence.

Knowledge, certified products, and expert support can build this confidence.

Building your understanding of passive fire protection—along with using certified products and accessing expert guidance—will strengthen your confidence 

You can then:

• Choose the right solution for the exact installation
• Install the products according to tested configurations
• Ensure both fire and smoke sealing
• Avoid improvisation with non-approved combinations
• Plan as suitable solutions could be difficult to apply later and increase costs

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