When our specialists are inspecting existing compartments, the first thing they look for are breaches that could facilitate the spread of flames and smoke. Breaches are most often found in service penetrations made by installing cables, pipes and other systems.

Defective firestopping solutions are another key area of focus. For example, holes may have been filled with materials that are either combustible or inappropriate such as pink foam. There is also the possibility that firestopping solutions have been made non-compliant through a new service penetration.

Our operatives use borescope inspection cameras to scrutinise compartments and firestopping installations for breaches or any other signs of damage.

CLM Fireproofing uses BORIS, a cutting-edge compliance management technology, across an entire range of passive fire protection installations. As specified in the Building Safety Act (2022), there must be a chain of evidence showing all efforts made to adhere to fire protection regulations. BORIS helps to create this chain through a digital audit trail, so our team can keep meticulous and transparent records.

BORIS can be used to generate client-facing reports, making it as clear as possible what remedial actions are required to bring buildings up to code. These reports include pictures with date and time stamps, information about what is compliant and non-compliant with descriptions of defective items, and what specific remedial actions are required for buildings to be compliant.

Any instance of non-compliance poses a risk to a building’s structural integrity in the event of a fire. However, if there are compartment breaches around escape corridors in buildings, these could hinder the safe evacuation of a building and must be rectified as a priority. Another example of high-priority remediation is when there is no evidence of firestopping in a compartment whatsoever.

First, we provide a scope of work, which broadly speaking is a breakdown of required actions. We will then schedule this work around the day-to-day operations of a live building. Costs will then need to be agreed on – more information on the impact of remediation costs on leaseholders can be found here. CLM Fireproofing will then finalise the programming of the work alongside any health and safety considerations.

Unsealed cavities can be found in gaps between walls, floors and ceiling floors. If left unsealed, air buoyancy can exacerbate the passage of smoke between different areas of a building, otherwise known as the ‘chimney effect’. This can be particularly problematic for tall buildings, as a fire that starts on the ground floor and moves up through empty cavities can accumulate on higher levels, with no place for hot air and smoke to escape.

The terms “cavity barrier” and “firestop” are often used interchangeably. While both are passive fire protection methods, there are a few key differences. As mentioned, a cavity barrier is a piece of fire-resistant material placed in enclosed, typically unused spaces within buildings. In comparison, while firestops are also used to prevent the spread of flames and smoke, they typically come in the form of putty or intumescent clamps and are used to seal joints or gaps between pipes, conduits, or sockets and the walls through which they pass. They can also be used around fire doors, windows, and ceiling voids. This helps to maintain the fireproofing of a wall or floor by closing small yet still problematic gaps. In short, firestops seal any imperfections between building elements that should be fire-resistant.

Cavity barriers should be installed near the edges of internal cavities, such as window and door openings or extract vents. They should also be placed at junctions whenever the wall cavity is aligned with a building compartment wall or floor. There are some exceptions to this requirement, depending on how fire-resistant the building material is. Cavity walls of a particular material or thickness may not require additional cavity barriers placed at junctions.

Before installing cavity barriers, it’s essential to consider building movements and deformations where the barriers are placed. Settlement, sway, thermal expansion, and penetrations by deformations can negatively affect the efficacy of a cavity barrier.