Electricians Pose A Constant Fire Risk During Everyday Maintenance
Although there is a wealth of advice available from both the IEE Regulations and Document B, many electricians remain totally unaware of the crucial importance of fire sealing cavities made during general maintenance.
It is essential that electricians are aware of the requirements detailed in Document B concerning fire stopping. Section B3 states that joints between fire separating elements should be fire-stopped; and all openings for pipes, ducts, conduits or cables to pass through any fire separating element should be kept as few in number as possible; and where appropriate fire-stopped.
Supporting Document B’s outline, the IEE regulations state that:
'Where cables, conduits, trunking, or other items of a wiring system pass through ceilings, floors, roofs, or walls of a building, any part of the hole that is left around the electrical material shall be made good to the same degree of fire resistance as that required for the element being passed through. Additionally, internal barriers that give the same degree of fire resistance shall be installed in busbars, busbar trunking, conduits, ducting, socket and switch boxes and trunking, where the ceilings, floors, roofs and walls have a specified fire resistance.'
So, the question is this: how can electricians be made to ensure that they have carried out their work with the correct use of passive fire seals where appropriate?
Facility Managers can play a vital role here, as it is their duty to ensure that the fabric of the buildings within their stewardship is maintained to the designed fire rating. From the moment an electrician makes a hole for an electrical service, all fire integrity is breached. Undoubtedly one of the easiest methods of control is to request a full audit of the electrical engineers works, stating where holes have been made and exactly what seals have been used. This request can be made at the costing stage, supported with an audit sheet when the ‘work permit’ is issued and final completed forms sent with invoices etc.
This process would produce an effective management system, giving those responsible for a building’s integrity the confidence that fire safety remains a priority, even when maintenance is being carried out. Supporting this approach, Envirograf has produced an excellent trade passive fire guide for the electrician, outlining all seals and their uses that are readily available to them. Envirograf is the main supporter of the Dover based Passive Fire College, and designed the guide after many hours of teaching trades persons the necessary skills to install fire seals effectively.
The Envirograf Electricians Guidance on Passive Fire is now available free to Specifiers, Building Control, and Electricians, and can be downloaded from www.envirograf.com. Alternatively, please call: 01304 842555 for your free copy.
The guide can be fully supported by a bespoke training course that delivers expert guidance on how to install passive fire seals, whilst including legislation background and fire engineering basics.
For more details call 01304 210721 or visit www.pftc.co.uk to look at course details.
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