Everything You Need To Know About Fire Compartmentation

Any passive fire protection strategy must incorporate effective compartmentation. To ensure that buildings remain structurally sound in the event of a fire, it should be incorporated into construction projects as early as possible.

Separation is also essential for complying with passive fire protection companies Dublin restrictions and industry standards.

Throughout this article, you will learn about the main principles of compartmentation, as well as some rules and requirements that help establish best practices.

What Is Compartmentation?

Compartmentalization is the process of dividing a structure into ‘compartments’ for effective risk management. In every compartment, either fire-resistant materials are used or fire doors or cavity barriers are installed.

What Is The Main Objective Of Fire Compartmentation?

Compartmentalization is concerned with containing a fire within a specific area of a building, limiting the flow of flames and smoke.

In turn, this allows occupants to safely evacuate a building and for fire services to extinguish the flames.

While safety is always paramount, another objective of fire compartmentation is to prevent a fire from reaching parts of a building that have special value or contain hazardous materials.

Examples include modular plant rooms in industrial buildings or server rooms in commercial properties.

Managing Risks In Compartmentation

To remain effective, compartment walls and floors must be monitored and maintained regularly. Several specific risks must be quickly identified and managed so that buildings are as safe as possible in the event of a fire.

Best passive fire protection companies Dublin are always involved in construction projects. During the installation of wires, pipes, or other similar elements, installers may inadvertently cause breaches in fire compartments.

A small breach can compromise the integrity of a compartment. Therefore, it is vital that any breaches in firestopping are identified and rectified as soon as possible.

A fire door can also be considered part of a compartmentation strategy. They are, however, often misused or neglected.

As an example, fire doors are wedged open to ensure easy access. Air moving in and out of a building can exacerbate the chimney effect, which is the spreading of fire as it moves in and out of the building.

Fire Compartmentation Requirements

You can find the most relevant and up-to-date compartmentation regulations. Fire safety in and around buildings is covered in this document.

Listed below are some of the main points of the document that best passive fire protection companies Dublin follows (in non-residential buildings).

· The minimum fire resistance period for a compartment wall or floor can vary depending on a building’s purpose and sprinkler system installation.

· Every floor in a building over 30m high must be separated by a fully-compliant compartment floor.

· Any wall that connects two or more buildings should be constructed as a compartment wall. In a ‘continuous vertical plane’, these should extend to the full height of a building.

· Ideally, compartment walls should be used to separate areas of a building that serve different purposes (e.g. storage or commercial operations).

Summary

Fire-resistant ceilings and cavity barriers may be installed as part of a compartmentation strategy. These must be able to maintain their structural integrity for at least 30 minutes in the event of a fire.

Author’s bio

The author is a blogger and fire protection company owner. He uses his knowledge and experience to write informative content.