A Passive Fire Protection System (FPS) is one of the most important elements to be considered within a building and its Fire Safety Strategy. Alongside attribute such as evacuation plans, fire exits and fire extinguishes, Passive Fire protection systems aid safer evacuation.
How do they do this?
FPS purpose is to slow or prevent the spread of fire, smoke and harmful gases within buildings through the implementation of fire rated materials. The aim of these systems is to implement fire doors, compartmented walls/floors & ceilings to contain the fire, heat, smoke and harmful gases in the event of a fire, to one compartment within a building. Their purpose is not to extinguish the fire but to minimise the spread of the fire within a building. If a fire is contained for a period of time, occupants have a safer escape and it is easier for the Fire and Rescue services to deal with the fire. The concept of concealing the fire to one area also preserves the building structure reducing repair costs and potential Health & Safety risks when it comes to the buildings construction health status.
What does the phrase 'compartmentation' mean?
Compartmentation refers to the effective way in which a building is divided into fire protected areas. So what areas would need to be fire protected? Fire, smoke and harmful gases need to be kept away from all potential escape routes i.e. hallways, stairwells and fire exits.
So what composes a Fire Protection system?
A Fire protection system begins with a fire risk assessment which will provide the responsible person(s) with recommendations for a passive fire protection strategy and steps toward implementing the following:
Fire doors: Fire doors have the role of preventing the spread of fire through its unique materials and composition. These materials provide each door with a Fire Rating that reduces the spread of Fire, Smoke and harmful gases. Fire doors also have a wide range of doors closers. Door closers ensure that the fire door always closes firmly shut once an occupant has passed through. Doors being held open will compromise any fire resisting capabilities. There is a system that uses a mag lock which either keeps the door closed or the door open. The mag system works in the way that when a fire alarm is sounded the magnets release closing the doors. This is incredibly useful for any public sector in which there is a lot of traffic through the given door set. This is one of the elements that helps these vital compartments remain a safe means of escape.
Fire Walls: Fire walls are installed in the buildings structure to aid the preservation of the vital compartments. These walls will also be used for the basic function of room segmentation, privacy and acoustics.
Intumescent Liquid/coatings: Fire resistant coatings have a role is preventing materials from reaching a flammable temperature. This is in aid of maintaining the structure and loadbearing capabilities. This material achieves this through rapidly expanding when exposed to a form of extreme heat.
There are two types of passive fire protection
Passive Fire protection Systems come in two forms, passive & active.
Active: Active Fire Protection systems refer to items such as sprinkler systems, fire alarms, smoke detectors, fire hoses and fire extinguishers. 'Active' Meaning that they activate in the event of a fire with the aim to put the fire out or encourage evacuation.
Passive: Passive refers to systems that are preventative of fire spread once a fire has started.
All systems are expected to operate in the event of a fire, so with that said they all require regular testing and scheduled maintenance to ensure their effectiveness in those crucial moments. Both systems work independently however the strategy as a whole considers both providing protection to both the occupants and the longevity of the building. These systems are not in place to prevent a fire from starting however their purpose is to detect the origin, alert the occupants and Fire & Rescue services, restrict its growth and suppress a potentially aggressive fire.
So in summary the passive fire protection system will work to reduce the spread of fire throughout a building as well as limit the structural damage that might be caused. active systems work to detect, alert and suppress a fire.