Fire Stopping Considerations - BICSI considerations.pdf · • It is believed that the rapid spread of fire through the Windsor tower was almost ... Typical fire stopping materials

Fire Stopping ConsiderationsBy

Eddy McVeighCableNet Training Services

Fire Stopping•It should be a Vital part of every telecom project be it large or small•If an opening is made in any wall, floor or ceiling it should be sealed afterwards.•This requires skill and knowledge on the part of the telecom installer

Fire Stopping

• It also calls for an understanding of products and techniques

• And an understanding of some of the rules and regulations

• This presentation will discuss the issues involved

The right way

Fire Stopping

• Why should the data installation industry fire stop ?

But this is all too common

Because this…

Can lead to this…

Fire Stopping• 441,200 recorded fires in 2004• 532 deaths• 14,400 casualties• Economic implications alone for England

and Wales is £7.7billion• Average cost of fire on a commercial

building £58,00

Fire Stopping

Worldwide every year: -• 100,000’s of fires• 5000 deaths worldwide• Cost of tens of billion’s pounds worldwide

Smoke also kills

• Smoke travels at between 50 and 300 ft per minute

• 67% of fire related deaths are through smoke inhalation

• 47%of survivors could not see more than 12 ft

Fire Stopping

• The Approach that the industry should take • It saves Life• It offers Economic Protection• It Adds Value to the job• By Keeping it Practical and Simple it

improves everything about the industry

Risks & Consequences32 storey Windsor Tower in Madrid.

Renovation work taking place on Saturday evening.

Windsor Tower

Windsor Tower

Windsor Tower

Windsor Tower

Windsor Tower

• It is believed that the rapid spread of fire through the Windsor tower was almost certainly caused by the absence of fire stops.

New York telephone exchange

New York telephone exchange

• Fire Started in cable vault • Fire was fed by over 17,000 lbs of cable

jacketing and travels vertically through unsealed floor penetrations.

• Knocked out service for 200,000 customers! • Caused $90M in damages• Left over 100 firemen injured.

Fire Stopping

Consequential fines are starting to become large and normal: -

• Tesco is suing Costain construction and architect Peter Hing and Jones for £10m after a fire destroyed its Redditch store last year.

• Architect Paskin Kyriakides Sands is facing up to £17m of damages after the Technology and Construction Court found it liable for a fire at a food production plant.

Fire Stopping

• Why fire stop?• What is fire stopping?• Data-specific problems• Options

Fire Protection Basics

•Detection

•Containment

•suppression

• Every building must have these three components, today we will look at the one specific to our industry

Fire Protection in Construction

• Containment -Limiting The Spread of Fire• Compartmentalisation• Erecting barriers to divide building space into

smaller units that confine fire to its point of origin• Intended as a last resort should suppression fail• “Balance” reduces risk – redundant “Airbag &

Seat Belt” approach avoids excessive reliance on any one element

Compartmentalisation

• How does fire stopping fit in?• Fire stopping plays a vital role in the

process.• Fire barriers with unsealed openings have

no fire rating.• Sealing Through-Penetrations restores fire

ratings.

Fire stopping is required for all openings, but do we do it?

Compartmentalisation

• Compartmentalisation and suppression are important in their own right but for this presentation we will concentrate just on fire stopping communications cabling basics.

Fire stopping

• Do we really need to clean-up our act?• Yes we DO!• We are creating a huge fire hazard with

substantial economic downside - not to mention life safety issues!

• Regulations require it

Overview Of fire stopping Regulations

• Presently• Country-specific• Anywhere from fairly

loose to somewhat strict

• Unevenly enforced

• To Come• EC-wide• Much stricter• Better enforced

European standard EN 1366-3

• Fire resistance, Fire tests, Building services, Fire safety in buildings, Fire spread prevention, Thermal testing, Seals, Sealing materials, Fire barriers, Penetration tests, Thermal insulation, Performance testing, Partitions, Walls, Floors, Construction systems parts, Laboratory testing

• Rating derived from testing• Integrity and Insulation are tested• difference between the old and the new

standard• Fire–rating: is now 1 hour• Firestop materials now have to last 1 hour

Building Regulations uk

• If the building is sub-divided into compartments by elements of fire-resisting construction;

• If any openings in fire-separating elements are suitably protected in order to maintain the integrity of the element;

• If the building is sealed and subdivided to inhibit the unseen spread of fire and products of combustion

Building Regulations• “every joint or imperfection of fit .. should

be adequately protected by sealing or fire stopping” ADB 11.2

• “The building shall be designed .. so that the unseen spread of fire and smoke .. is inhibited” ADB B3-4

• “all openings .. should be .. Fire stopped (which in the case of a pipe or duct, should allow for thermal movement)” 11.12

THE FIRE TRIANGLE

• Fuel• Heat• Oxygen

The Physics of Fire

• Cables are a rich source of FUEL!• One FOOT of Loaded Tray = 150,000 BTUs*• Equivalent to 4.2 litres of Petrol!

But YOU - designing and protecting infrastructure have a pressing issue

• Can you afford to have your network down for a few hours - or days?

• Can you afford to have your equipment destroyed by fire?

• Can you afford to have smoke damage the electronics in the server rooms and in your company in general?

• Can you afford the personal and professional consequences?

FIRE SYSTEM SELECTION

• Is it construction or renovation?• Do you know Fire resistance requirement• Wall or floor• Will there be Movement• Environmental damage• Mechanical strength

FIRE SYSTEM SELECTION

• Size of opening• Smoke/gas tightness• Design for life• Frequency of use

The fundamentals of fire stopping cables

Challenge: how do we get from here…

…To Manageable Compliance?

Fire stopping is about systems not just products

• FIRESTOP SYSTEM: • A specific construction

consisting of • A wall or floor assembly• A penetrating item passing

through an opening in the wall or floor assembly

• The materials designed to prevent the spread of fire through the openings.

Concrete/masonry walls

• Important considerations:• Can’t easily create

openings in existing walls.

• Important to plan and properly locate openings as the walls are being built

Plaster Board Walls

• Penetrations Can Weaken the Wall! • Plaster Board (Calcium Sulfate) is about 40%

water by weight. As the fire burns, the water is gradually evaporated and the board begins to shrink and crack and then slough off.

• Too many penetrations in a small area can accelerate the rate of failure.

• Plaster Board requires adequate support. Large unframed or unsupported areas will also fail prematurely as the board thermally degrades.

Penetrants:permanent? or retrofittable?

• Important question:• Are the penetrants in

there for good? Or will changes be needed later on?

• The answer to this question drives firestopping product and design selection!

Permanent penetrants• Conduits, Ducts, and

Electrical Power Cables are examples of penetrantsthat will generally be installed once and then never changed or removed.

• Permanent Sealing Products are the best choice for these types of installations.

Non-Permanent (Retrofittable) Penetrants

• Datacom and other Low voltage cables are examples of penetrantsthat will often require change or removal.

• Retrofittable sealing products are the best choice. These products can be removed and reinstalled as necessary.

Fire stopping materials simplified view

• PASSIVE – Products that do not react to heat

• INTUMESCENT – Products that expand when exposed to high heat or fire

Fire stopping Materials Simplified View

• PASSIVE FIRESTOP PRODUCTS• Perform as installed. Do not require heat

activation. • Play a more limited role in fire stopping. • Cannot compensate for burning or melting

penetrants.


• EXAMPLES of PASSIVE FIRESTOP PRODUCTS

• Insulative Materials – Mineral Wool• Endothermic or Heat Sinking Materials –

Firestop Mortars• Ablative Materials – Silicone Foam• Fire Barrier Grouts – Non-Intumescent

Sealants


• INTUMESCENT FIRESTOP PRODUCTS• Expand when exposed to high heat or flame. • Can compensate for burning or melting of combustibles. • Generally, more versatile over a broader application range

than passive products. • EXAMPLES of INTUMESCENT FIRESTOP

PRODUCTS• Sealants – Flagship products for most fire stop lines.

Usually water-based.• Putties – Non-Hardening, reusable.

Firestopping Materials Simplified View

• HYBRID FIRESTOP PRODUCTS

• Often Combine features of various technologies into a single, more effective product.

• EXAMPLES of HYBRID FIRESTOP PRODUCTS:

• Firestop Pillows –Combine a passive, insulating core with intumescent coatings

Typical fire stopping materials

• Fire stop pillows• Pillows are not interchangeable. Some brands are

not edge-coated with intumescent which may require a greater use of putty.

• Pillows excel in areas where access to the opening is limited or only available on one side.

• Pillows should always be installed with the required compression.

• Some pillow systems for larger openings may require installation of a retaining mesh.

Typical Firestopping Materials

• SEALANTS… Great for PERMANENT Installations

• But not recommend when used with comms cable

Typical fire stopping materials• Intumescent Putty• Putty can be removed and

re-used as long as it is kept clean.

• Putties contain oils which may be absorbed into porous surfaces. Sleeves are recommended.

• Only high-tack putties should be chosen. Less tacky products may not stay in place

Typical fire stopping materials

• Pre-Made Sleeves• For small to medium

holes• Usually used in

conjunction with Putty or a foam pad

• Subject to a fill % limitation

The big challenge:maintaining effective fire stopping in

a cabling environment

Fire stopping• The ACTUAL Life Cycle of the Average Datacom

Penetration…• Cables are ADDED • Fire stopping is REMOVED• Until ALL we have are CABLES

Maintaining effective fire stopping

3 Key Challenges:1. Maintaining the seal2. Not overfilling3. Avoiding new holes


Challenge 1:• Maintaining the fire seal:• Create Standard Operating Procedures to

ensure that a retrofittable seal is used and replaced


Challenge 2: Keeping enough fire stopping materialThe BIGGEST SAFETY ISSUE is allowing

cables to totally displace the fire stop materials!


• What Is The MAX Fill %?• Regulations usually don’t prescribe a fill

%...• A good Rule of Thumb: MAX 35%


• Specify a Maximum Bundle Diameter for various size sleeves…

• CAUTION DO NOT OVERLOAD!• MAXIMUM BUNDLE DIAMETER:• Sleeve Size Bundle Size• 50 mm 25 mm• 60 mm 40 mm• 100 mm 70 mm


• Cable Fill %:Know WHEN to say ENOUGH!…

• Consider Labeling for sleeves that have reached Maximum Capacity.


• Challenge 3: AVOIDING • NEW HOLES• Capacity Planning• Avoiding the SWISS CHEESE

SYNDROME


• Remember the causes…• Each opening sized

specifically for the immediate requirement.

• Permanent sealing methods used precluding future additions.

• Installers wanting their own openings

• Here are the solutions…• Consider the

future…Install a larger sleeve now if cables will be added.

• Do not allow permanent sealing methods. Require retrofittable solutions.

• Give them their own openings. Identify them for future use.


• Figure what you think you need now and in the future.

• Then double it! You know you’re still underestimating it!

• Now Add to this 50%. Remember sleeve capacity is an average of about 35% if you allow for proper fire stopping


• Lay down the rules! Define how you want it done and how you want it maintained.

• Provide detailed Specifications including Products and Sealing Methods.

• Consider a Manual of Standard Operating Practices


• Consider a fire stop device with pre-installed self-adjusting fire stopping and no fill requirements.

• Self-adjusting intumescent membrane provides smoke and fire protection 100% of the time, empty or full

Easypath

Another option is

Third party accreditation .. of installers of .. materials.. provide a means of ensuring that installations have been conducted by knowledgeable contractors to appropriate standards, thereby increasing reliability of the anticipated performance in fire.” ADB 0.20

• Finally • I think that we should fire stop• But Let the professionals do it for us.

we need to get from this

To this

Fire stopping

• Questions ?

• Thank you to • Charbel Tagher, President Specified

Technologies Inc.• Chris Scott Hilti uk.

European standard EN 1366-3• Test data:• Temperature: ISO 834• Pressure:• 15 Pa for a small penetration• 20 Pa for large penetration Cable penetration

• Rating derived from testing• Integrity: E• Insulation: I

• Equivalence between the old and the new standard• Fire–rating: 1 hour → E 60• Firestop: 1 hour → EI 60

Regulations - contradictions

• Cement mortar• Glass fibre• The 40 mm question

European Cable Classifications Are Consequently Being Set

• EU working on fire tests to define the performance of these cables. Expect some publication in late ‘06?

• Likely to be mandatory once specified in a country’s Building Regs.

• Grades B1 and B2 similar to American plenum and much more expensive (400%) than basic PVC presently used.

Designer Main Contractor Specialist Accreditation Manufacturer


Designer specifies the use of a 3rd party accredited installer


Designer specifies the use of a 3rd party accredited installerDesigner specifies the use of a 3rd party accredited product



Main Contractor appoints 3rd party accredited installer



Main Contractor appoints 3rd party accredited installerMain Contractor insists on 3rd party accredited products



Main Contractor appoints 3rd party accredited installerMain Contractor insists on 3rd party accredited products

Fire protection and compartmentation done correctly

Fire Stopping Considerations - BICSI considerations.pdf · • It is believed that the rapid spread of fire through the Windsor tower was almost ... Typical fire stopping materials

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