{"id":54245,"date":"2017-09-27T14:05:38","date_gmt":"2017-09-27T12:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.walraven.com\/en\/?p=51471"},"modified":"2025-05-05T14:09:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T12:09:26","slug":"testing-fire-stopping-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.walraven.com\/int\/about-walraven\/news\/testing-fire-stopping-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"Going the extra mile when testing fire stopping systems"},"content":{"rendered":"

Testing fire stopping systems beyond standard requirements<\/span><\/h2>\n

The integrity of fire stopping systems is a very real issue at a<\/span> moment when there are stories in the news of deadly fires in high-rise buildings. This is exactly why, at Walraven, testing our fire stopping systems to the highest standards possible has always been at the top of our priority list. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"fireWe work with some of the biggest testing laboratories such as <\/span>Chiltern<\/span> (UK) <\/span>Exova<\/span> (UK), and <\/span>Efectis<\/span> (NL). At these specific laboratories, not only do they test fire stopping systems to the highest standards, but they also understand about real issues that can impact what happens in buildings such as pipe movement and smoke sealing. Although these are not requirements for the testing of these products, we feel that this is a crucial part of the overall effectiveness of a firestop. By using these laboratories we are able to get professional opinions on the performance of our product in those non-tested, yet realistic, situations. <\/span><\/p>\n

Testing in-house for true scenarios<\/span><\/h3>\n

In addition to using third-party organisations, Walraven also has its own test facility in Holland allowing us to carry out continuous testing and bespoke testing scenarios. This ensures that our products will work in a whole range of scenarios that may not be officially tested for. We believe in testing products for real-life situations, not to simply meet test conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our contribution to the fire stopping community<\/span><\/h3>\n

To keep at the forefront of activity around fire stopping and passive fire protection, we are actively involved in national associations in most countries where we are present. In the UK we are members of IFSA & ASFP. Currently, we are driving for legislative changes to incorporate increased testing requirements for fire stops. This includes issues such as pipe movements, soundproofing, and smoke penetration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ahead of the competition with our certifications<\/span><\/h3>\n

All of our firestops do, of course, have industry standard certifications. In addition to this, our Walraven <\/span>Pacifyre<\/span>\u00ae<\/span> MKII Fire Sleeve<\/span><\/a> has been laboratory tested and certified to prevent noise conduction. This is a feature that other fire sleeves do not have. We were prompted to incorporate noise prevention into our fire sleeve when we were approached by The Royal Opera House. They wanted us to provide them with a fire stopping system that also offered sound insulation. \u00a0We developed our fire sleeve further and tested it through the <\/span>Acoustical Investigation & Research Organisation (AIRO) laboratory<\/span><\/a> to achieve the additional sound insulation feature to our product. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To see how effective the noise insulation actually is, watch the short video below.<\/p>\n