Interesting Articles / Viewpoint

In the middle of a downturn in construction it is very tempting to look and think that you have your own labour not working to its full capacity so why sub-contract something as simple as the installation of a fire door or a fire collar? For a fire door to operate sucessfully, the entire fire assembly must be installed and operate correctly. The assembly is composed of the fire door, frame, door closers, hinges, locks, door bolts, and other door components that when combined provide the varying degree of fire protection required. Hopefully the assembly will carry third party product certification (such as a Certifire mark) that will ensure that the product meets the correct standard but if the installer uses incorrect fixings, the wrong backing materials behind the frame or as is commonly seen, the area above the fire door, hidden above the suspended ceiling is not adequately fire-stopped, the door will either fail to meet the fire performance criteria or the fire will bypass it altogether by exploiting gaps around it.

In the case of a fire collar there could be a number of pitfalls for what looks like a very simple product. Fire collars are designed to fit around plastic and other combustible pipes where they pass through a fire rated wall or floor. The intumescent materials inside the collar will swell up under the application of heat and crush the pipe before the flame has time to breach the compartment and spread to another room or level. In a floor assembly it is assumed that the heat will spread upwards and therefore fire collars should be fitted to the underside of the floor slab. However, these are often seen fitted on top of the floor slab where they will be of no use at all in a fire. For walls youy need one fitted wither side (or centrally if the product has been tested that way). Again, it is common to see these fitted to one side only. Not knowing which side of the wall the fire is going to break out, if it is fitted on the wrong side then the whole compartment will fail allowing the fire and noxious gases to spread uncontrollably to the next room.

Fire really is too dangerous to take chances with and third party certifification of both product and installation of that product are the best way to ensure that everything has been done to ensure the highest standard of installation.