Designing for passive fire protection in buildings

One should give significant importance to passive fire protection strategy while designing the building. Passive fire protection is necessary to deal with likely fire risks and an evacuation plan. Fire are dangerous. They spread very quickly from point of origin and cause significant loss to property and human lives. Passive fire stopping products prevent this spread or delay it. Majorly in every fire disaster, fire does spread from its point of origin and it happens due to poor designing of passive fire protection in the building. Read in this blog some design considerations to be followed while designing for passive fire protection:

  • The structural frame: Passive fire protection company advice you to be careful about choosing the structural frame for the building. Steel frame needs to be protected in board materials or sprayed with intumescent paints because steel loses strength quickly under low heat loads. Timber frames need to be protected by plasterboard because they are combustible. Concrete frames do not need this level of protection but it can face the problem of spalling.
  • Doors and shutters: One should use all the passive fire products while constructing the building and doors are no exception. All the doors and shutters used during construction of a building should be fire rated.
  • The building envelope: You should not just take care of the fire spreads internally but also about the fire spreading to neighbouring buildings. Take this into consideration while designing the building.
  • Firewalls: Firewalls are necessary to preserve escape routes and areas of high fire risks just like fuel storage spaces.
  • Compartment walls, ceilings, and floors: Compartments walls, doors and glazing in them need equal fire resistance. Every service hole through compartment walls should be kept as small as possible and must be fire stopped. Passive fire protection companies also advice to take care of shafts running through the floors and ceilings.
  • Flooring: Resistance that floors offer in the event of the fire depends upon the material they are made from. Timber is combustible and overheated concrete can cause explosive spalling. Steel gets deformed and weakens when exposed to heat. Passive fire products installation is customized according to the structure of the building.
  • Air distribution systems and ductwork: Fire protection in the air distribution systems is the most important element of the passive fire protection system. You need to install fire dampers where it passes through the compartment wall or floor, using fire resisting ducts or enclosing the systems in fire resisting shafts. Passive fire stopping products of superior quality should be installed in every residential and commercial building to avoid the property damage in case of fire.
  • Service ducts and shafts: Fire and smoke can be easily spread through ducts and shafts containing fuel lines and other building services hence they must be necessarily fire stopped wherever they penetrate compartments.
Vijay Systems Engineers Pvt. Ltd.

Written by

Vijay System Engineers is one of the leading providers of Passive fire protection systems in India.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade