With several high-rise apartment fires within our region recently, fire safety is a topical issue.
While fires are often exacerbated by the use of combustible claddings, the issue I wish to address here is the “unseen” spectre of separation.
Fire separations are what divide buildings into compartments, arresting the spread of heat, smoke and flame between occupancies – both horizontally and vertically – and allowing the occupants time to escape.
Concrete and masonry construction, which is our default, does the job quite well. But what is often overlooked is the need to fire-stop penetrations through walls and floors between occupancies – at doors, shafts and services runs.
The following are common omissions:
Tagging of fire doors, for the most part, isn’t mandatory – suggesting that installations might not perform as intended.
Finally, while the presence of fire stopping material at floor level on glass curtain walls can be commonly observed, fully tested systems – which, by definition, include multiple materials and fixings – are often absent or incorrectly installed.
Without adequate fire stops, fire will spread more rapidly than intended, putting lives at risk – even in fully sprinklered buildings.
Were statutory authorities to audit our existing building stock, they would find this a shockingly common problem – and perhaps much more significant than is currently recognised.
