ADVICE & OPINION
COMPLIANCE
FIRE RESISTANCE INSPECTIONS
FOR EXISTING BUILDINGS
PFP or Passive Fire Protection products and
materials are installed in structures to
provide fire protection in the event of a fire. In
recent months PFP Specialists has been contacted
by concerned building owners and operators,
regarding increased requirements to understand
the fire safety capability of buildings, given recent
and pending changes in regulation.
In newer buildings this is most likely documented
‘as built’ evidence of the fire protection measures in
place. However, in older buildings or buildings with
structural modifications, it is not always possible
to find substantiated record of the passive fire
protection originally installed.
Passive fire protection in this context could include
boarding, intumescent coatings or cementitious
coatings applied to steelwork, or in some cases, to
reinforced concrete structures.
REGULATORY CONTEXT AND IMPLICATIONS
The Grenfell Tower fire of 2017 was a tragedy that
resulted in many calls for increased fire safety in
buildings and for the UK’s Building Safety system to
be reformed.
Proposed changes to the regulatory requirements
were published by the government in July 2020 by
way of the Building Safety Bill.
Changes in legislation will mean greater emphasis
on the building safety management process and
there will be a Building Safety Manager identified to
be responsible for this and other aspects.
UNDERSTANDING FIRE RESISTANCE
A fire safety strategy for a building will typically set
out the fire resistance requirements that must be
achieved. In many cases, this is typically referenced
as a fire resistance period, e.g., 60-minutes,
90-minutes, etc.
In new construction and recently constructed
buildings it is most likely that the passive fire
protection methods put in place will have
been documented in design, specification, and
construction, so it is reasonably easy to identify
the various measures used to provide necessary
protection.
Recently though, there has been an increase
14 JUNE 2021
in interest by building owners and developers,
specifically in older structures, to ascertain the
current level of fire resistance, where there is no
documentation available as to what was originally
installed to protect the structure.
This situation is obviously of major concern to
building owners and managers, as not being able to
identify fire protection materials applied to structures
means there can be no proof of fire protection
capability, and therefore structural fire resistance
performance. This can carry risks associated with
satisfying the approving authority and potentially
the compliance, from an insurance perspective.
Where structural fire resistance cannot be adequately
determined, a remedial action may involve stripping
out of what is there and reinstatement with a known
product. Clearly the logistical and commercial
implications here are vast.
SITE SURVEYS AND INSPECTIONS
A Fire Risk Assessment may identify further
investigation is required relative to the applied
passive fire protection systems, but in most cases,
specialist fire protection professionals may need to
be consulted to conduct further inspections.
In the case of existing installations, where there is
no record of the product applied or its fire resisting
capability, there are processes that can adopted:
General visual inspection: on-site surveys of
installed product and by visual inspection to
identify the generic type of the passive fire
protection material
Close visual inspection: On-site condition survey
including thickness measurements and overall
integrity
Laboratory analysis: Removal of samples from
site for investigations including spectroscopy and
thermal conductivity measurements
A key objective is identifying the passive fire
protection product’s manufacturer and product
name. With this information, a review of the
material’s original fire resisting capability can be
made to determine if it will provide the required level
of protection. This could involve reference to the
product’s datasheets and performance declarations.
In-situ thickness measurements also provide
insight since these can be correlated against
published thickness tables for products to quantify
fire resistance capability.
The passive fire protection industry can move at
a fast pace. In certain circumstances, products may
have been superseded and no longer produced.
Manufacturers may have gone out of business or may
have been bought out by other suppliers and their
products integrated into a larger product oˆ ering,
with potential rebranding. Trying to find pertinent
documents for suspected products can potentially
be challenging for older structures. Dialogue with
industry professionals and direct contact with
manufacturers is o‘ en required as a part of a
detective activity.
Laboratory analysis provides very useful
assessments to help identify fire resisting capability
of a material. Small samples can be removed from
site for consideration and analysis can be used to
determine the generic type of product installed and
further properties to develop a profile of the material.
This profile can then be used to identify the specific
product by manufacturer and type.
Combinations of site inspections, lab testing
of samples, and specialist industry and product
knowledge is typically required to make an informed
evaluation.
Allan Jowsey and John Dunk, Directors at PFP Specialists Ltd
on the importance of demonstrating fi re protection capability
in older buildings
In association with
www.pfpspecialists.co.uk
/www.pfpspecialists.co.uk
