Fire Risk Assessment for business – Legal requirements – Firestoppers!

There is a legal requirement to have an up to date fire risk assessment for all businesses with over five occupants, or for businesses with a public area, such as shops or public houses.

The part of an effective fire safety action plan that is most often unrecognised or forgotten by business owners is compartmentation. Put simply, compartmentation is the division of a building into separate cells, so that fire in one cell will not spread into the next.

Compartmentation is partly accomplished by the use of firestoppers, which can commonly be something as simple as a fire door. However, many building users do not realise that the construction around the fire door will also be fire rated.

The primary aim of any compartmentation or firestoppers is to preserve a means of escape for people who may be inside the building. A simple office building, for example, may be open plan with only one exit staircase. However, this staircase should be encased by fire walls and doors to ensure that fire cannot pass into the stairwell.

Larger and more complicated buildings rely more heavily on compartmentation. High rise residential flats and apartments are usually compartmentalised into units so that if fire develops in one residence, it is less likely to spread to others. In this case, the route of escape is the primary concern and each unit may contain firestopping measures to ensure egress is possible in case of fire.

Compartmentation has no ongoing costs. It is a fixed cost upon installation or building, and as it has no dynamic response to fire in itself, it requires limited maintenance on the part of the building owner or occupier.

Firestopping is the generic term given to various components that are used to seal openings in fire compartmentation.  The method adopted will differ greatly, depending on the type and size of the opening as well as the material that is passing through.

Other systems, such as fire dampers are used where ductwork passes through fire walls.  Technology and industry advances mean that fire separation (if installed properly) can have an enviable success rate. With all fire safety measures, however, it is the weaknesses that must be continually considered, particularly with the constantly changing environment in buildings which may require service alterations.

CFSM's experience has shown a number of areas that are often mismanaged, in terms of fire separation.  Cavity barriers, for instance, can be an effective part of a compartmentation strategy.  They are a form of fire separation and are generally placed in areas where fire and smoke spread could occur and go undetected.  However, this effectiveness has not been shown in roof void areas, in our experience. A lack of understanding in this area of fire avoidance can increase the risk of fire spreading within a building.

  

Similarly, deficiencies have been identified within both ceiling and floor voids.  The level of deficiencies normally depends on the time of construction.  Newer buildings, built to current regulations that use modern building systems tend to have less problems, however, where refurbishments have been undertaken in existing buildings, large unseparated areas have been observed.

Fire compartmentation should be included as a significant consideration of your existing fire risk assessment and is an area where competency is critical.  This bulletin should have highlighted the importance of this fire precaution and highlighted some of the potential issues affecting it, if these are not adequately considered, this gives rise to a potential failing of the fire risk assessment and far worse than that, could mean that a fire is allowed to spread.

Your fire risk assessment should be used to highlight areas where additional fire avoidance techniques are required, amongst other considerations, and while it is not expected that each building or public area occupier should already be aware of how to resolve potential hazards, it is essential that they are highlighted and further guidance is sought to provide solutions.

If you would like to know more - or would like to arrange an appointment with one of our senior fire safety advisers - simply call Peter Gyere on 0208 668 8663.