Fire protection in commercial properties is, from start to finish, a highly specialised discipline.
Fire safety laws and regulations are complex and often changing, and the processes they rely on – everything from creating a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) to installing and repairing compartmentation and fire doors, amongst others – come with an absolute condition: that the persons who deliver them must, legally, be competent to do so.
So, fire protection isn’t a job for the unqualified, which is why our team here at Commercial Fire Protection is certified and accredited by fire industry bodies as competent to carry out the work.
But it’s also a discipline that adds value from the very earliest stages of a building’s design, helping commercial landlords, and building owners and managers, avoid expensive reengineering later on.
In this blog, we look into some examples of why fire safety expertise should be front of mind in any commercial new build project – not just when the building is complete.
Service penetrations: a classic cause of costly rework
This example demonstrates how something that appears to be a relatively straightforward process actually requires highly specialist knowledge to unravel the nuances that can cause timeline-wrecking pitfalls.
The premise is simple: the service penetrations that exist in every commercial building (for ductwork, dampers, pipework, cables, and so on) will inevitably need to go through passive fire protection (PFP) assets, like fire-retardant partitions and ceilings, therefore creating fire protection breaches.
These breaches can be remedied using fire-stopping materials like intumescent sealants, so the shortcut to compliance is often regarded as routing multiple services through one penetration in the PFP, and placing fire-stopping around it.
However, this shortcut can cause severe problems and non-compliance. Why? Because ductwork and dampers, for example, are tested to a different standard from other service types, sp they cannot run through the same penetrations as pipework, cables, and conduits.
Other complications can arise from required minimum distances between each service type, the separation of combustible and non-combustible pipes, limits to the size of the penetration, and the number and type of services allowed to pass through a single penetration.
If these issues come to light at the construction stage, rather than being taken into account at the design stage, they can incur significant time, effort, and expenditure to put right, and, subsequently, test.
Grand designs – but expensive outcomes
Likewise, there are other examples of how bringing fire protection expertise in too late in the new build process can leave you with a big bill.
Adding more ventilation ductwork than in the original building design, for example, can involve cutting penetrations through steel beams that may already have been treated with intumescent coatings as part of the building’s PFP strategy.
This can result in the steelwork having to be reinforced, or the installation of an entire new PFP system – massive expense that could have been avoided simply by coordinating fire protection with construction and services needs at the design stage.
Fire protection specialists – not an afterthought
What the above examples clearly show is two things.
Firstly, that the input of a fire protection specialist isn’t just critical for ongoing risk assessments, surveys, and remedial works in existing buildings, but is also a pressing requirement in new builds.
And secondly, at the new build stage that fire protection expertise should be an integral element in the design process, ensuring not only that the building achieves compliance, but that it does so on time and on budget.
You may have a million things to think about in your commercial property new build – but involving a fire protection specialist at the earliest design stage is one you cannot afford to forget.
And at Commercial Fire Protection, we stand ready to help.
Contact us today to discuss any aspect of your fire protection needs in your commercial building – whether it’s a new build or an existing property – and request your FREE Guide to Fire Protection Compliance here.
