Fire stopping of service penetrations
Building regulations use a combination of fire protection measures to allow designers to design fire-safe buildings with a minimum level of protection for occupants, fire fighters, adjoining buildings and the buildings themselves.
The National Construction Code (previously Building Code of Australia) requires both active fire and passive fire measures in most commercial and high-rise residential building types.
Amongst other things, the code states it is necessary to fire stop or fill the holes around services passing through fire-rated barriers.
We’ve all heard the term firewall. This is just one of many types of fire rated barriers.
More definitive fire rated barrier types include:
- Fire-rated and load-bearing walls
- Fire-rated and non-load-bearing partitions
- Fire-rated shafts including riser, lift, service shaft types
- Fire-rated floor slabs
- Fire-rated floor-ceiling systems
- Fire-rated membrane or self-supporting ceilings
- Fire-rated bulkheads
In Australia, our building code mandates an independently fire-tested FRL (Fire Resistance Level) for passive fire protection measures.
An FRL applies to a whole assembly or system that has been subjected to the Standard Fire Resistance Test, Australian Standard, AS1530 Part 4-2014.
Depending on the passive fire protection measure, the FRL is expressed using many fire resistance criteria for Australian regulatory requirements under our Deemed-To-Satisfy (DTS) provisions.
Download and read the article for a more comprehensive explanation.
More articles
Passive fire protection and the importance of limiting temperature for steel structure
All materials become weaker when they get hot and structural steel is not an exception. Depending on the design of the structure, the steel will have a limiting or critical temperature.
What does this mean, and why is it important? How does it affect the amount of protection needed?
Fire protection of concrete-filled, hollow structural steel
Filling of closed profile or structural hollow sections with concrete is a well-known practice in the structural design of buildings.
It offers several advantages over unfilled hollow sections, such as cost versus strength optimisation, durability and aesthetics, increased fire resistance and much more, but it needs to be done correctly.
The importance of getting it right
KTA-Tator are a North American company specialising in the testing of steel and concrete structures. With over 70 years' experience they have amassed a sizable body of knowledge, making them one of the leaders in third-party testing in the USA.
One of their consultants, Jay Helsel, recently posted a case study, reporting on the findings of their investigations into the failure of intumescent coatings applied to a project in a north-eastern, coastal location in continental USA.
Passive fire protection of steel structures
A look at the legal or regulatory requirements for passive fire protection of steel structures in Australia, written by John Rakic, Managing Director of Trafalgar Fire.
John discusses the requirements of our own National Construction Code (NCC) encompassing fire testing requirements of AS1530 Part 4 or an equivalent fire test method, along with the strict requirements contained in AS4100 for data analysis and calculation of the thicknesses of fire protection materials required to provide a compliant FRL.
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