Fire Compartmentation: Compliance Saves Lives

Elements of the compartmentation, such as the service penetration seals, are hidden within the building’s make-up, often rendering them the ‘unsung heroes’ of building safety. Their silent, but nevertheless crucial role in containing and slowing the spread of fire is often overlooked. Make no mistake, though, that they’re a key factor in saving lives and limiting damage in the event of a fire.

The implementation of fire compartmentation is crucial in high-rise buildings, themselves defined in Approved Document B as those structures exceeding 18 metres in height or having more than seven storeys and with at least two residential units.

However, at Quelfire we believe that compartmentation should not be limited to high-rise buildings or those taller than 18 metres. Each case should be reviewed individually.

Approved Document B – B3: Internal Fire Spread (Structure) states: ‘Where reasonably necessary to inhibit the spread of fire within the building, measures shall be taken, to an extent appropriate to the size and intended use of the building, comprising either or both of the following:

*sub-division of the building with fire-resisting construction

*installation of suitable automatic fire suppression systems’

It also highlights that all compartment walls and floors should achieve a complete barrier between the compartments they separate and, further, that the appropriate fire resistance must be implemented.

Purpose of fire compartmentation

Fire compartmentation works to contain a fire to its areas of origin for as long as possible. Despite it being a regulatory requirement, it’s sometimes overlooked as an important life safety measure that construction professionals must take seriously.

When the appropriate service penetration sealing products are installed according to relevant test evidence, they provide time for occupants to safely evacuate the premises or otherwise wait for a rescue operation, while also reducing damage in the event of a fire. Simply, compartmentation puts those resident in the building first.

A given building’s compartmentation is created by dividing the premises into areas of manageable risk. This is achieved using fire-resistant barriers, such as masonry and fire-rated plasterboard walls, concrete and fire-resistant ceilings and floors.

In our experience, it’s doubtful that a building’s compartmentation will remain a solid box due to required openings. For a dwelling to be habitable, it needs windows, doors, a kitchen and a bathroom, which require service penetrations (including those for pipes and cables). These form ‘openings’, which consequently void the fire-resistance rating of the compartment wall or floor.

Due to this, every penetration that breaks the compartment line must be adequately fire-stopped to reinstate the required fire rating. This is where test evidence and fire stopping products (eg fire collars, fire sleeves, wraps and compounds, to name just a few) will be used.

What needs to be considered?

When it comes to restoring a building’s compartmentation, all factors must be considered. Areas for consideration will include the supporting construction and its required fire rating, the actual service penetration type and material, whether it’s insulated and the thickness of any insulation.

Knowing whether the application is a single or multi-service is also beneficial. However, it can be challenging to reinstate certain applications’ fire ratings due to insufficient test evidence or mismatched integrity and insulation ratings.

At Quelfire, we provide a bespoke Information Collection Form, which helps our customers to gather this amount of information on an efficient basis.

Saving lives

Compliant fire compartmentation saves lives. As such, it follows that properly designing, installing and maintaining that compartmentation, notably so regarding service penetration openings, is crucial to ensure that fire stopping systems work correctly in the event of a fire.

Alec Purdie is Technical Manager at Quelfire (www.quelfire.co.uk)