Passive fire protection (PFP) is at the heart of a building’s defences against the spread of fire, toxic gases, and smoke – and because it’s built into the fabric of the building in the form of fire-resistant walls, ceilings, doors, and other fittings, it doesn’t need switching on or off, and is ready for action 24/7.
Unless, that is, your refurbishment or renovation work inadvertently compromises it – in which case, your building becomes both a fire risk and a legal liability.
But what do we mean by “compromised”? What happens in refurb and renovation projects to damage a building’s PFP, and what can be done about it?
Compromised PFP: the legal implications
Firstly, it’s important to understand that the legal responsibility for fire safety doesn’t stop with a building’s owner, landlord, manager, or other “responsible person” (although if you’re one of those, you certainly carry that responsibility).
The Building Safety Bill currently being introduced by the Government also holds to account those participating in the design and construction of buildings, including the refurbishment of existing buildings.
These individuals must be able to demonstrate their understanding of fire risks, and of the importance of using appropriate materials to maximise building safety and minimise the threat to life.
In short, if you or the individuals acting on your behalf compromise PFP, you render its materials inappropriate – and so you fail to meet the Bill’s standards. Should a fire then take hold as a result, you could potentially be liable, in whole or in part, for the consequences.
Where and how, then, does this compromise occur?
The workers undoing fire protection
Typically, damage to PFP occurs when contractors and third parties who are not trained in fire protection are brought in to carry out the refurb work.
An electrician, data contractor, heating engineer, or plumber, for example, might drill a firewall to run wires, cables, ducts, or pipes through it – and because that firewall has been pierced, it is then compromised, and is no longer effective against the spread of fire.
This, in turn, undermines one of the core principles of effective PFP: fire compartmentation, or the division of the building into a number of fire-resistant cells to contain flames and smoke, and prevent them being driven through the rest of the building by airflow.
Likewise, refurb works can breach the cavity barriers that inhibit the spread of smoke through open spaces in roofs and between floors – an even more dangerous outcome, as these areas are invisible from the ground, and compromises can often only be detected by a full fire protection survey.
Even supposedly minor works can seriously impact a building’s PFP. Renewing a few fittings on a fire door for aesthetic or functional reasons, for example, may seem straightforward, but for a fire door to provide effective and compliant fire compartmentation all its fittings and hardware – frames, hinges, handles, glass panels, ironmongery, and seals – must themselves be fire-resistant to the appropriate rating.
With larger refurb projects, compromises of these kinds can multiply alarmingly, but additional issues also emerge. If the building’s layout is being changed, for example, with walls and partitions being moved, removed, or added, this can potentially impact the safety of fire escape routes and impair fire exit accessibility.
What’s the solution to compromised PFP?
Compromised PFP can in many cases be repaired and reinstated – and the building’s fire safety compliance re-established – by having a specialist PFP company conduct a thorough fire risk assessment or fire protection survey, and deploy appropriate breach fixes that meet BS and EN regulatory standards.
Breach fixes can typically include repairs and corrections to fire doors and their fittings and furniture, as well as fire-stopping, which uses fire-resistant materials and sealants to “plug” PFP compromises in walls, floors, joints, apertures and service penetrations (e.g. ducts and vents), cavity barriers, and other places.
However, as with most projects, it makes much more sense – and saves much time and money in the long run – to identify where PFP compromises are likely to occur before work begins, and plan an approach that avoids them, rather than having to go back and rework them later on.
By working with a PFP specialist that has extensive experience of refurb projects specifically – not just new builds – and having them carry out a full fire protection survey, you can progress to a complete fire protection design and deployment tailored to your building, and a preventive PFP maintenance programme to help keep the building compliant well into the future.
Get help with PFP in refurb projects
At Commercial Fire Protection, we work with refurbishment and renovation contractors to ensure commercial buildings’ PFP is kept effective and legally compliant, no matter how minor or extensive the project.
It only takes one PFP error or compromise to propagate a fire, but through fire risk assessments and fire protection surveys we can spot the issues before they happen, remedy them when they already have, and ensure every element of PFP – from fire compartmentation, to fire exit strategy, to fire protection design and maintenance, and more – does the job the law expects you to make it do going forward.
For more information, get in touch.
