Fire-resisting structures
Many buildings are divided into different areas
by fire doors and fire-resisting walls and floors.
These are partly designed to keep a fire within
one area, giving people more time to escape.
You will need to identify which doors, walls
and floors in your building are fire-resisting.
There may be information available from when
the building was built, if alterations have been
made, or from a previously held fire certificate.
High-risk areas (e.g. spray shops with highly
flammable materials) should be separated from
the rest of the premises by 30-minute fireresisting
construction.
Normally if there are fire doors in a wall,
then the wall itself will also need to be fireresisting
(see Appendix B1 for more
technical
information
about fire-resisting
walls and doors).
If a wall or floor is required to be fire-resisting
then you should not make any holes in it, e.g. for
extra doors or pipe ducts, without consulting
a competent person.
To ensure effective protection against fire,
walls and floors (including any openings such
as doors, ventilation ducts, pipe passages or
refuse chutes) providing fire separation must
form a complete fire-resisting barrier.
The passing of services such as heating pipes
or electrical cables through fire-resisting walls
or partitions may leave gaps through which
fire and smoke may spread. These should be
rectified by suitable fire stopping and there are
many proprietary products available for this
purpose to suit particular types of construction.
Such products should be installed by
competent contractors.