Fire Stopping in Fire Safety Schedules

Working with Fire Safety Schedules? Make sure the Fire Safety Schedule for your project doesn't contain the below wording for Fire Stopping of service penetrations:

𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨... 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚

As awareness of Passive Fire Protection increases in the industry, terms such as 'tested prototype' and 'tested system' are becoming more prevalent. An example of this use can be seen in Fire Safety Schedules, which are included as part of building approvals and list both the active and passive fire safety systems required in the building along with the applicable standard(s) of performance for the measure.

Whilst on face value, requiring Fire Stopping of service penetrations to be in accordance with a tested prototype may seem harmless, the reality is that this can significantly reduce available fire stopping systems, noting that:

❶ A large portion of compliant fire stopping systems for service penetrations on the market vary from the tested prototype as it is not practical nor is it necessary to include all possible variations to a service / system (e.g. changes to pipe materials and/or sizes, wall construction, or cable types/configurations etc.) in a single fire test; and

❷ Variations to tested prototypes are permitted under the National Construction Code, provided the variations are assessed and documented in a Report prepared by an Accredited Test Lab (such as Resolute Testing Laboratories, CSIRO and Warringtonfire) which details the construction and requirements of the varied system along with the FRL it has been assessed to achieve in accordance with Section 4 of AS 4072.1-2005.

Noting the above, we recommend reviewing Fire Safety Schedules as early as possible on projects to ensure this wording isn't included and unnecessary defects are avoided.

Looking for smarter ways to ensure your project is #NCC compliant? Follow Code Consultancy Group or get in contact:

𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲: 02 9651 2864

𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹: team@codecg.com.au

𝗪𝗲𝗯: www.codecg.com.au

#FireSafetySchedules #FireStopping #PassiveFire #PassiveFireProtection #PassiveFireCompliance #ReducetheRisk #CodeConsultancyGroup #CCG #ComplianceAssured

Passive Fire - Reduce the Risk

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: 𝗡𝗼𝗻-𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴

Fire stopping of service penetrations through walls which aren't required to be fire rated ('non-required fire stopping') continues to cause confusion and frustration for all parties, from builders trying to obtain PC/OC right through to building owners receiving a defect report containing this issue.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲

Non-required fire stopping most commonly occurs due to service drawings not aligning with fire compartment plans or trades installing fire stopping systems to all of their service penetrations to ensure fire stopping isn't missed.

Unfortunately, once installed, fire stopping systems can often prove difficult and/or costly to remove and as a result it is often left installed, as the installation of non-required fire stopping in itself isn't a defect.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁

The above process results in:

❶ Walls and floors containing services half of which are fire stopped and half of which are not

❷ Confusion by those inspecting/auditing fire safety measures in the building

❸ Costly defects which could have been avoided

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

The above process has been occurring for decades, but it doesn't have to be this way. There is a simple, cost effective solution - Signage!

Signage identifying that the wall/floor is not required to be fire rated under the National Construction Code, removes the confusion caused by penetrations in walls/floors being partially fire stopped and importantly, reduces the risk of defects by communicating critical information to those inspecting them in the same fashion way that tags to fire doors or install stickers for required fire stopping does.

Looking for smarter ways to ensure your project is #NCC compliant? Follow Code Consultancy Group or get in contact:

𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲: 02 9651 2864

𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹: team@codecg.com.au

𝗪𝗲𝗯: www.codecg.com.au

#NCC2022 #PassiveFire #PassiveFireProtection #PassiveFireCompliance #ReducetheRisk #CodeConsultancyGroup #CCG #ComplianceAssured #Simplebuteffective

NCC 2022 - Reduce the Risk

#NCC2022 is due to be adopted in less than 3 months and this means that over the next 12-24 months there is an increased risk of defects due to assumptions being made on site about which version of the NCC applies to projects. For this reason, Code Consultancy Group strongly recommends construction teams take a leaf out of John Holland's book and sign post the version of the National Construction Code applicable to the project at the site entry gate.

This simple but effective step removes the ambiguity and assumptions, ensuring that when it comes to #NCC compliance, there are #noexcuses

Looking for smarter ways to ensure your project is NCC compliant? Follow Code Consultancy Group or get in contact:

𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲: 02 9651 2864

𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹: team@codecg.com.au

𝗪𝗲𝗯: www.codecg.com.au

#NCC2022#ReducetheRisk#NoExcuses#CodeConsultancyGroup#CCG#ComplianceAssured