MASTERS IN CONSTRUCTION

MANAGEMENT

PRELIMINARY STUDY OF NON-COMPLIANCE OF

PASSIVE FIRE PROTECTION (PFP) IN THE
NEW ZEALAND BUILDING INDUSTRY

DATE:

20TH JUNE 2014

BY

ANUSHYA RAMASEGAR

(ID: 168033)

SUPERVISOR

DR. DAVE MOORE

DECLARATION

____________________________________________________________________

Declaration

This is to certify that

 I am responsible for the work submitted in this report

 Information presented not been directly copied from books, journals or other publications
without duly acknowledging source
 All such works have been cited conforms with academic norms
 Work contained herein has not been submitted as part of the MCM or to any other
institution.
 I have no objection to information in this report being used for academic purposes

Signature and Name

___________________________________________________________________

ANUSHYA RAMASEGAR

2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This report would not have been made possible without the assistance of a few people.
Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Dave Moore for his constant support,
guidance and advise throughout the development of this project. I would also like to take this
opportunity to thank Simon Davis, the Fire Engineering Manager from the New Zealand Fire
Service in Auckland for his time and participation in making this report possible. His
contribution to this report was invaluable and helped make this report a successful one. Last
but not least I would like to thank my fiancé Ramesh for his constant encouragement and
motivation throughout the duration of this whole course.

3
ABSTRACT

Fire safety is a relatively young discipline which has been rapidly progressing in the last few
decades. One aspect of this discipline which is passive fire protection has always been more
subtle and inconspicuous compared to other areas of fire protection. This report attempts to
address the lack of awareness of the importance of passive fire protection system and
attempts to identify the failures that occur in the passive fire protection system in the context
of the New Zealand building industry. In New Zealand the seismic activity can cause damage
to the water supply network during an earthquake rendering it useless in the event of a fire.
The passive fire protection system then becomes essential as it remains the only fire
protection system that would allow the building occupants to exit the building safely in the
event of a fire. A literature review was done to establish an overview of practices in passive
fire protection systems around the world. Severe gaps in literature and research in this area of
study was detected. This study also found that currently there are no standard uniform
building codes for the design and installation of passive fire protection. The findings were
further confirmed by interview with fire personnel in the New Zealand Fire Service. The
study is concluded by recommending a consolidated building code for the design and
installation of the fire protection system and also increasing the awareness of key players in
the building industry on the importance of passive fire protection.

4
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION...................................................................................................................... 2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................................... 3

ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. 4

CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 8

1.1 Overview of Passive Fire Protection (PFP) ................................................................ 8

1.2 Types of PFP in the Building Industry ........................................................................ 8

1.3 Objectives of Report.................................................................................................. 11

CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................... 12

2.1 Developments in Passive Fire Protection (PFP) ....................................................... 12

2.2 Relevance and Importance of PFP in the Building Industry ..................................... 12

2.3 Building codes: Standards and Regulations .............................................................. 17

CHAPTER 3 – METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................... 19

3.1 PHASE I .................................................................................................................... 19

3.2 PHASE II................................................................................................................... 19

3.3 PHASE III ................................................................................................................. 20

CHAPTER 4 - ANALYSIS ................................................................................................... 21

4.1 Issues Pertaining to the Failure of PFP in the Industry ............................................. 21

4.2 Causes for Occurrence of Failures in Passive Fire Protection .................................. 21

4.3 Industry Perception on the Problem .......................................................................... 23

4.3.1 Fire Fighters ....................................................................................................... 24

4.3.2 Engineers............................................................................................................ 24

4.3.3 Building Owners ................................................................................................ 24

4.3.4 Builders / Installers ............................................................................................ 24

4.4 Codes and Standards ................................................................................................. 25

5
CHAPTER 5 – DISCUSSION............................................................................................... 26

5.1 Possible Measures to Overcome/Avoid/Minimise Existing Problem ....................... 26

5.1.1 Field ....................................................................................................................... 26

5.1.2 Technical ............................................................................................................... 26

5.1.3 Research................................................................................................................. 26

5.2 Gaps in Research ....................................................................................................... 27

5.3 Framework ................................................................................................................ 28

5.4 Further Research ....................................................................................................... 28

CHAPTER 6 – CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 29

APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................. 30

REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 32

6
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 ...................................................................................................................................... 9

Figure 2 .................................................................................................................................... 10

Figure 3 .................................................................................................................................... 14

Figure 4 .................................................................................................................................... 28

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 ..................................................................................................................................... 13

Table 2 ..................................................................................................................................... 16

Table 3 ..................................................................................................................................... 22

7
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION

1.1 Overview of Passive Fire Protection (PFP)

Fire safety is a relatively new discipline that has rapidly progressed over the last three
decades giving a clearer picture of the design requirements of a fire protection system
as well as the objectives of it. It has become a mandatory requirement in building
designs. The main objectives of fire protection systems are: (Malhotra, 1991):

 To protect the occupants of buildings

 To protect property (i.e. machines, equipments and documents)
 To prevent conflagration

Generally, there are two types of fire protection methods namely, the active fire
protection method and the passive fire protection method. Generally people in the
industry are more familiar with the operations of the active fire protection system
which directly combats the fire through the means of fire suppression systems,
sprinkler systems, fire extinguishers and hose reel systems. However, it is the passive
fire protection system that contains the fire, smoke and controls temperature at the
point of its origin. Unfortunately, not many are aware of the high importance of the
passive fire protection system since its components are either sealed or invisible to the
lay person’s eye. It is only when a fire breaks out that the true value of the passive fire
protection is appreciated.

1.2 Types of PFP in the Building Industry

The primary function of the of the passive fire protection system is to ensure a safe
exit passage for the building occupants as well as fire fighters and also to maintain the
structural integrity of the building when it is exposed to fire. This is done by
compartmentalising each room in order to delay or stop the spread of fire. There are
four different areas of passive fire protection which make up the whole system (Aker,
2008):

 Structural fire protection

 Compartmentalisation
 Opening protections
 Fire stopping materials

8
Studies have shown that that elevated temperatures can rapidly degrade the structural
properties of both steel and concrete. A study done on the ASTM A36 structural steel
shows that under ambient (20ºC) conditions the yield stress for the material is
248MPa whereas at heated (600 ºC) temperatures the yield stress was reduced by
almost half to 103MPa (Davidson, E. Harik, & B. Davis, 2013). In order to prevent
degradation in material during a fire, structural elements are coated with fireproofing
materials such as spray-on thin-film intumescents, endothermic materials like gypsum
based plasters and cementitious products, mineral wool wraps and insulation or
fireproofing cladding.

Figure 1: Effect of Temperature on Stiffness of Structural Steel Adapted from FEMA (2002)
(Davidson, E. Harik, & B. Davis, 2013)

It is common practice these days to ensure the structure of the building is adequately
protected by fires through the means of passive fire protection. Some of the typical
protections used for structures are (Davidson, E. Harik, & B. Davis, 2013):

 Cladding – calcium silicates and gypsum

 Spray fireproofing – intumescent coatings and endothermic paints

Cladding usually slows down the rate of the fire burning thus reducing the speed and
intensity of the fire itself. Spray fireproofing involves spraying the steel structural
members of the building with a coating. During a fire, the heat subjects the coating to
significant transformation forming layers of carbonaceous char. This protects the steel
structure reducing damage to the building.

9
 (a) (b)

Figure 2: Fire Response to Intumescent Coatings: (a) under ambient conditions and (b) after
exposure to fire (Davidson, E. Harik, & B. Davis, 2013)

Compartmentalisation on the other hand involves the installation of fire rated walls,
ceilings and floors. The materials used to make these fire rated barriers are usually
made out of gypsum or combination wood. The function of these barriers is to contain
the fire, hinders the spread of fire and smoke migration to other parts of the building.
This allows building occupants to safely exit the building and provides a safe passage
way for fire fighters to perform their duties safely. However, these walls, ceilings and
floors are concealed and are rarely visible.

Buildings usually contain a fair amount of doors and windows which can turn out to
be quite deadly hazard during the breakout of a fire. Due to the fact that they heat up
very fast thus preventing building occupants from escaping the burning building.
Therefore, opening protections are an important part of passive fire protection design.
Windows and doors are installed with fire rated materials to prevent them from
burning or heating up too quickly in order to allow safe exit of the building occupants.
Fire and smoke dampers and also categorised as opening protections since fire can
spread through duct systems as well.

Firestopping materials on the other hand are used to prevent fires from spreading
through penetrations in fire barriers. For example, building modifications can leave

10
 exposed or hidden holes in electrical sockets, plumbing systems and even
telecommunication systems. Firestoppers are designed to seal these holes thus
preventing the spread of fire from one area to another. This can be seen in the case of
the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas in 1980 whereby the fire travelled undetected
within the walls for hours through vertical shafts and claimed 84 lives (Aker, 2008).

1.3 Objectives of Report

The primary outcome of this report is to raise awareness amongst key industry players
on the importance of passive fire protection. One of the biggest problems faced in the
industry is the lack of awareness amongst building owners, contractors, electricians,
plumbers and even engineers.

This report also aims to identify and highlight the pitfalls of passive fire protection
system in the New Zealand building industry and why they occur and how it can be
resolved. Part of the objective of this report was also to analyse the current building
and design codes and comment on the relevancy of the building codes to the current
industry practices.

11
CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Developments in Passive Fire Protection (PFP)

The fire protection discipline is a relatively new discipline and although it has rapidly
progressed there are still various areas that need improvement. Fire protection consists
of many areas and some of these areas have come a long way in terms of research and
technical development while others are still in the formative stages and still need to be
studied upon. The passive fire protection is one of these areas where there is still a lot
of research to be done upon. According to current available research, there are serious
limitations in the current approaches to passive fire protection particularly in current
approaches to structural fire safety and also literature; whereby there are severe
knowledge gaps in literature (Kodur, Garlock, & Iwankiw, 2007).

Over the years the construction industry has evolved in terms of construction
methods, materials used and design. In recent years, green buildings and sustainable
design have become ubiquitous, trending in unconventional architectures, new
materials and engineering designs. This is of course good news to the environment
and society. However looking at the matter from an engineering point of view, new
materials and unconventional designs pose a threat to the safety of occupants of a
building in the event of a fire. For example, new materials that have not been
extensively tested may produce poisonous fumes when exposed to high temperatures.

2.2 Relevance and Importance of PFP in the Building Industry

The most important objective in fire safety design is the life safety of the building
occupants. Computational models are usually used to calculate or estimate the
environment in a compartment during the occurrence of a fire, measuring the growth
state, flash-over state and fire behaviour ( (Hadjisophocleous & Benichou, 1999).
Establishing the critical limits during a fire condition is important in order to
determine the point just before untenable conditions are reached so as to enable
building occupants to escape safely.

Referring to the table below, it can be seen that under the right conditions, even five
minutes of exposure to poisonous gas or lack of oxygen during a fire is sufficient to
incapacitate and cause death to building occupants. With reduced concentration,

12
building occupants are only capable of withstanding 30 minutes of inhalation of
poisonous gas during a fire before being incapacitated or killed. According to
researchers (Gann, Babrauskas, Peacock, & Hall, 1994) (Beitel, Wakelin, & Beyler,
2000), smoke is the leading cause of deaths during a fire. In the United States alone,
75% percent of fire victims are killed by smoke (Licht, Richard, 2001). Not
surprisingly, most reports state that deaths usually occur in areas remote from the
origin of the fire. It can be construed that most of the time smoke leaks out and fills
up escape routes like exit stairways, hallways, shafts, and ducts inhibiting the
movement and visibility of occupants. This shows the necessity of the passive fire
protection system in buildings.

Table 1: Tenability limit conditions caused by toxic combustion products (Hadjisophocleous &
Benichou, 1999)

Chemical 5 minutes exposure 30 minutes exposure

Products Incapacitation Death Incapacitation Death
Carbon Monoxide 6000 ppm 12000ppm 1400ppm 2500ppm

Low Oxygen <13% <5% <12% <7%

Carbon Dioxide >7% >0% >6% >5%

There were 523,000 fires in structures, and 240,500 (46%) of these fires were
classified as occurring in buildings other than one and two-family dwellings. Total
structural property loss was $8,490,000,000 with $4,367,000,000 (51.4%) in
structures other than one or two family dwellings. Smoke kills approximately 75
percent of the fire victims in the United States. These deaths occur in areas remote
from the room of fire origin and are due to the toxic effects of the smoke as it
migrates throughout a building. Smoke contaminates escape routes, including stairs,
hallways and elevators, trapping occupants, inhibiting safe egress (Licht, Richard,
2001).

When it comes to determining the successful application of fire fighting systems, two
contexts are applicable; operational reliability and performance reliability. The former
provides a measure of the probability that a fire protection system will operate as
intended while the latter measures the adequacy of the feature to successfully perform
as intended function under specific fire exposure conditions (Bukowski, Budnick, &
Schemel, 2003). Fire protection systems are usually installed years before actually

13
having to be operational. On some occasions the use of fire protections systems are
never even employed. This raises the question of effectiveness of the fire protection
system during a fire; in other words, the operational reliability and performance
reliability of the fire protection system.

Interestingly, statistics gathered by the United States Fire Administration from the
National Fire Incident Reporting System (United States Emergency Management
Agency, 1999) reported that the performance reliability of sprinkler systems in
buildings is 98.2%. Unfortunately, as shown in Figure 3, statistics taken in 1996 show
that the presence of sprinkler system does not represent the operational reliability of
sprinkler systems. The figure below shows that almost 40% of sprinkler systems out
of 5,189 fires in the United States failed to operate during a fire. This means that the
sole fire protection system that building occupants had to rely on during the 2,076
fires in which the active fire protection system failed to operate was the passive fire
protection system.

Figure 3: Percentage of Operational and Non-Operational Sprinklers in 1996 in the United States
(Licht, Richard, 2001)

Addressing a more significant matter related to New Zealand is the operational

reliability of the sprinkler systems during the event of an earthquake. There have been
several cases in the 1900’s where earthquakes have caused fires and combined the
failure of active fire protection systems the damage was catastrophic. In 1906, San
Francisco experienced an 8.3 magnitude earthquake resulting in 3,000 deaths and
pecuniary losses of $ 524 million (Scawthorn, O'Rourke, & Blackburn, 2006).
According to Scawthorn et. al., the earthquake destroyed 28,000 buildings 80% of
which were damaged or devastated by fires. The fires ignited as a result of the

14
earthquake burned for three days due to the lack of water supply damaged by the
quake. The fires obliterated so many buildings and caused severe damages that
exceeded the damages caused by the earthquake itself. For many decades after, the
event was known as “the Fire” giving little or no significance to the earthquake itself.
The cause of the fire was known to be inadequate fire protection, inadequate water
supply and highly flammable construction material. The four square mile fire was
ignited through fracturing of electrical wiring and kerosene lit lamps. The significant
point here was not the fire itself but the lack of water supply needed to extinguish the
fire. The earthquake had damaged severely damaged the main water supply leaving
the fire fighters helpless.

Similarly in the Canterbury quake in 2010, the Auckland Council discovered that the
municipal water supply too many sprinkler systems had been damaged due to the
quake. Although there had been no fire but the alarming realisation that in the event a
fire did occur at that time, the sprinkler systems could not have operated. (Frank,
Gravestock, Spearpoint, & Charles, 2013). In cases like this, the only source of
protection for the building occupants would be the passive fire protection.

Another important aspect of the passive fire protection system is that it provides
protection for the structural facet of the building. This is an integral part of the passive
fire protection system as the building needs to be able to withstand a fire long enough
for the occupants and the fire fighters to exit safely. Referring to Table 2 from the
year 2005 to 2009, the most number of fatalities occurred from fires that caused
structural damages to the building. More than 50% of deaths from fire related causes
stemmed from fires with structural damage. Fires that manage to cause even a single
death is deemed as severe (Hadjisophocleous & Benichou, 1999). Referring to Table
3 which shows a detailed description of structural fires, it can be seen that an average
of 30% of structural fires cause damages to the building. By association, it can be
summarised that structural fires are the leading cause of fire related deaths in New
Zealand.

15
Table 2: Types of Structural Fires where Fatality Occurred (New Zealand Fire Service:
Emergency Incident Statistics, 2010)

Table 3: Statistics of Fire Incidents Relating to Structures from 2005 – 2009

(New Zealand Fire Service: Emergency Incident Statistics, 2010)

16
2.3 Building codes: Standards and Regulations

In 1992, New Zealand underwent a major shift in the design and construction sector
when it moved from prescriptive based codes to performance based building codes.
Prior to 1992, New Zealand along with many other countries was using the
prescriptive based building codes. Prescriptive based codes meant that designers were
required to follow a specific set of guidelines that defined the requirements for fire
resisting construction and means of escape during a fire (Buchanan A. H., 1994). The
problem with the prescriptive based codes was that there were no clearly stated
objectives thus design for atypical buildings or unusual situations became a
challenging task. The prescriptive based code was used for decades and was meant for
buildings of a different era. Design and construction has come a long way since then
in terms of design, construction methods and materials. Hence the introduction of the
performance based codes.

Performance based codes are relatively new but they make allowances for new
designs, technology and methods. The performance based codes have three distinctive
characteristics (Buchanan A. H., 1994):

 Clearly stated objectives

 Specified performance requirements
 Allows the use of any solution as long as the performance requirements are met

Many countries have opted to adopt the performance based codes in consideration of
building better and safer buildings. However, the performance based codes does have
its drawbacks as well. Literature studies have stated that the performance based codes
are qualitative and not quantifiable by nature (Woodrow, Bisby, & Torero, 2013)
(Buchanan A. H., 1994). The performance based codes also does not address
prevention of fire damage to the contents or the structure of a building since these are
only considerations of the building owners. This proves to be a fallacy in the New
Zealand building industry context as mentioned in the above section where the
leading cause of deaths in fire accidents in New Zealand is due to structural damages.

17
The new codes also require regular inspections of buildings to ensure all systems and
escape routes are in compliance of the codes (Buchanan A. H., 1999). However, the
inspections are the responsibility of the building owners according to the Fire Safety
and Evacuation Buildings Regulations 2006 (2013) in order to obtain the yearly
Warrant of Fitness for the building. This highly contradicts the efficacy of the system
as building owners lack the knowledge and awareness needed to perform these
inspections and lack the interest to do so given that any non-compliance would
require the building owner to carry out repair works at his own cost.

In current practice, New Zealand relies on Fire Resistance Rating (FRR) guidelines
and in some cases Euro codes to design passive fire protection system. The FRR is
basically a testing system whereby materials are tested to see if they are adequately
designed to be used as part of the passive fire protection system of a building. The
issue that needs to be addressed is what constitutes as ‘part’ of the passive fire
protection system. There are merely general guidelines to assist with the design of the
passive fire protection system. Even the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) in
the United States does not have a standard code to be used for the design of the
passive fire protection system unlike the automatic sprinkler system where the NFPA
13 is used.

Based on the literature review above, it can be clearly seen that there is an urgent need
to address the issues faced in the passive fire protection industry. The glaring fact is
that the severe lack of awareness of the importance of passive fire protection is
rapidly becoming a crisis given that New Zealand is constantly troubled by seismic
activity. The dangers that come off a fire during an earthquake are devastating and
calamitous as proven by history. Much work needs to be done in terms of educating
the industry players and looking into current building code practices but the outcome
of it would have major benefits and spill-over benefits for years to come.

18
CHAPTER 3 – METHODOLOGY

3.1 PHASE I

In this phase, a review was done on the subject of passive fire protection to establish
the problem statement. In order to determine the problem statement, an initial study
was done on the passive fire protection system in the New Zealand building industry.
Research was done based on the findings of a research project funded by BRANZ.
The pilot study conducted by the Fire Protection Association of New Zealand
established an 80% failure of passive fire protection systems in New Zealand. The
problem statement was established and subsequently the scope of works was
determined. Due to time and resource constraints, this report only encompasses
literature study, an analysis of the building codes and interview with fire personnel.

3.2 PHASE II

The focus of this phase was mainly on the gathering of relevant data and literature on
passive fire protection in general and also literature pertaining to the New Zealand
building industry. Current building codes and practices were also taken into account.
Another aspect of Phase II was to get input directly from within the industry.

In order to achieve this, Fire Engineering Manager Simon Davis from the New
Zealand Fire Department was interviewed to acquire some insight of the current
practices in the industry. Simon Davis has over 30 years of experience in fire
protection design and fire engineering locally and around the world. Simon is also
part of the Passive Fire Protection Group under the Fire Protection Association of
New Zealand (FPANZ) which meets quarterly to discuss issues and formulate
solutions concerning passive fire protection.

Due to the severe gap in literature with regards to passive fire protection system
which made it impossible to establish the magnitude of the problem, Simon’s insight
was valuable and captured the current practices in the industry and the perception of
key players in the industry concerning this issue. Initially part of the research scope
was to perform a building survey on an existing building to determine the level of
compliance of passive fire protection of the building. However, due to limitations in
regulations and approval permits it proved to be unfeasible to do so.

19
In order to compensate for the lack of physical data, the research scope was adjusted
to include the perceptions of key players in the industry in order to determine which
areas needed to be addressed and how it may be addressed.

3.3 PHASE III

Finally in Phase III, the findings from data, literature and input from Simon were
combined and analysed. Limitations, setbacks, failures and solutions were addressed
in this phase which is presented in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 of this report. Critical
analysis on the existing literature and compared with existing building codes and
practices.

20
CHAPTER 4 - ANALYSIS

4.1 Issues Pertaining to the Failure of PFP in the Industry

The principal impediment faced in this research project was to try and quantify the
extent of failure in passive fire protection in the building industry. Given that most if
not all of the elements and components of passive fire protection is hidden or part of
the building itself; the challenging task of quantifying the extent of failure in passive
fire protection in the New Zealand building industry would have to be executed stage
by stage. This process could take some time considering the application time for
consent to inspect buildings, approval from building owners and maintenance
engineer and their willingness to allow the information obtained to be published.

However BRANZ managed to carry out a pilot study that (Fire Protection Association
of New Zealand, 2008) to ascertain the quality of passive fire protection in New
Zealand buildings. The survey was conducted on a small sample of buildings ranging
from a hospital to a residential apartment building. The inspection was conducted
with a checklist which comprised of the four pillars of passive fire protection which is
structural fire protection, compartmentalisation, opening protections and fire stopping
materials. Through this pilot survey, it was found that:

 Penetration through fire-rated elements to accommodate services such as

plumbing
 Lack of coordination amongst different trades during primary installation and
well as refitting works
 Gaps in knowledge amongst industry players such as installers, building
managers and building officials
 Issues related to inspection with relations to the Compliance Schedules

4.2 Causes for Occurrence of Failures in Passive Fire Protection

Based on the literature review and the outcome of the interview process, the most
prominent cause for the occurrence of failure is the lack of awareness among key
players in the industry. There are several aspects to the term ‘lack of awareness’ in
this case. There is a clear lack of awareness in terms of design, installation,
importance of communication, collaboration amongst designers and installers and

21
most of all the lack of awareness on the importance of the passive fire protection
system itself. The lack of awareness of the importance of passive fire protection
systems across the spectrum of industry players is due largely to poor dissemination
of information. Building owners are unaware of the importance of installing passive
fire protection mainly due to lack of education and knowledge on that subject. A great
has changed since the initial practice of passive fire protection in terms of design and
technology; building owners remain unaware of these facts and rely solely on active
fire protection to protect their building. This misconception needs to be addressed
most importantly in New Zealand where reliance of active fire protection systems is
not sufficient solely due to the volatile tectonic plates it is situated upon.

Moving on to the design aspect of the system, the engineers are committed to getting
the design right and delivering in on time. Most of the time the design is watertight
and the engineer is faultless. However, the perfect design does not always get
translated into the perfect construction. Lack of coordination and communication
between designers and builders often lead to incorrectly installed passive fire
protection systems. Furthermore, the integration of the mechanical and electrical
services often causes the installation of the system to be compromised. More often
than not fire barriers are punched through and fire-stopping materials are omitted.
These faulty installations are then sealed off and forgotten about leaving the building
exposed to the threat of a fire. Below is a table illustrating the number of fires that
occur in New Zealand that are caused by design, construction and installation faults.
The table shows a continual increase from year to year except in year 2006.

Table 4: Statistics of Fire Incidents Due to Design, Construction and Installation Faults from
2005 – 2009 (New Zealand Fire Service: Emergency Incident Statistics, 2010)

22
 One deduction that can be made from this problem is that builders and installers lack
the proper training and methods on the correct installation of passive fire protection
systems. This problem is further made worse during refurbishment and remodelling
works. Given that most passive fire protection systems are either concealed or hidden;
contractors and installers tend to pay less attention to detail and give less importance
to these components knowing that they will not be visible at the end of the day.
Similarly, building owners build on that same attitude thus contributing to the
problem. Due to this, the integrity of the passive fire protection system is greatly
reduced and even rendering it useless in the event of a fire.

From the research findings, it was discovered that due to the nature of regulation in
New Zealand, the onus to inspect and apply for the Warrant of Fitness for buildings
for fire protection systems solely lay on the building owner as specified in the Fire
Safety and Evacuation of Buildings Regulations 2006. This bylaw is highly
conflicting in nature as there is no quality control in the approach or mode of
reporting. The building owner may submit his application without doing a thorough
inspection of the building and not be penalised for it. Since a lot of aspects of passive
fire protection are concealed, the building owner might not be interested to invest the
time nor the effort to perform the inspection as intended. This is definitely an area that
needs to be addressed as it contributed to the negative perception and attitude of
building owners towards fire protection system.

Lastly, due to the fact that the fire engineering discipline is a very young discipline,
the lack of literature on this subject heavily contributes to the nature of the problem.
Even if efforts were made to educate industry players and inculcate good practices
amongst them, the approach would have to be developed from fundamental
knowledge.

4.3 Industry Perception on the Problem

The passive fire protection industry in New Zealand is relatively small and
encompasses a few parties. Based on research done for this project, there are four
parties that are directly involved with the design and implementation of passive fire
protection. The perception and insight of these people is imperative to the continuous
development and innovation of the passive fire protection industry. However not all

23
the parties involved across the spectrum possess the same level of knowledge or place
the same degree of importance to this field as explained below:

4.3.1 Fire Fighters

The issue of passive fire protection is taken very seriously as more often than
not it is a life and death matter for fire fighters. The primary concern of fire
fighters is that the structure experiences premature or unexpected collapse in
the event of a fire. The issue of failure in passive fire protection systems is
taken very seriously amongst fire fighters since it directly affects their
performance in executing their jobs and more importantly their lives.

4.3.2 Engineers

Engineers possess the knowledge and know-how of the design aspect of

passive fire protection. However the lack of involvement in the construction
aspect of the system and the urgency of meeting construction deadlines leave
room for inaccuracy during installations. This in turn leads to
miscommunication between suppliers, installers and contractors and causes
faulty installation of the system.

4.3.3 Building Owners

Given that building owners are not parallel with engineers and fire fighters in
terms of technical knowledge, passive fire protection is not a topic of
significance importance to them. Building owners usually take it for granted
considering the presence of the active fire protection system in the building.
This lack of understanding and misconception often leads to catastrophic
outcomes in the event of a fire.

4.3.4 Builders / Installers

It is somewhat a complicated task to coordinate and supervise different

services during construction. Installers usually enter the site only when needed
and leave once their job is done. The lack of knowledge and control in this
area is what compromises the quality and the efficacy of the passive fire
protection system. Currently, there is no installation guide on how services
should be installed with respect to the passive fire protection system.

24
 Based on the outcome of interview with fire personnel in the New Zealand Fire
Service Department, the industry players do recognise that there is a lack attention
given to the design of passive fire protection. The chain effect of this perception has
led to:

 Poor quality of passive fire protection in terms of installation

 Lack of knowledge amongst builders namely electricians and plumbers
 Lack of awareness of the function and importance of passive fire protection
among building owners and developers
 Inadequate enforcement and regulations in issuing Warrant of Fitness (WOF)
for buildings
 Absence of consolidation passive fire protection building code for design and
installation

4.4 Codes and Standards

New Zealand is yet to have a standard code for the design and installation of passive
fire protection system relying only on the FRR guidelines and Euro Code. However,
from the interview with Simon it was learned that the Passive Fire Protection Group a
sub-section formed under the FPANZ is currently meeting quarterly in order to
address this issue. In view of the problem, efforts are also being made to develop an
installation guide for installers, contractors, builders and technicians. Having said that,
the building industry should also look into the performance based design codes seeing
that the lack of methods to quantify the quality or level of safety of the passive fire
protection system. As mentioned by Fleischmann (2011) in his article, New Zealand
is looking to move to prescribed performance from the performance based building
codes. The efforts to make this practiceable cannot come sooner seeing that in 2014
itself New Zealand has experienced three strong (4.6 – 5.2 magnitude) earthquakes
and one severe earthquake (6.2 magnitude) (Geonet, 2014).

25
CHAPTER 5 – DISCUSSION

5.1 Possible Measures to Overcome/Avoid/Minimise Existing Problem

5.1.1 Field

In order to ensure successful installation and application of the passive fire

protection system in the building industry, the core issue which is the lack of
awareness of the importance of passive fire protection system needs to be
addressed. Associations like the Passive Fire Protection Group are established
to help increase the awareness amongst key players in the industry. However
without an accompanying regulation that places importance on this issue, the
gravity of the situation will be nebulous. In order to educate that industry,
efforts must be made to develop a formal certification in passive fire
protection for installers, builders and technicians. Concurrently, the building
codes must be consolidated and improved combining the prescriptive and
performance based codes to form one comprehensive building code. Similarly,
an installation guide for passive fire protection should be developed to
establish a uniform guide for construction purposes.

5.1.2 Technical

Fire Resistance Rating (FRR) Codes and Euro Codes need to be combined to
form one uniform design code. This colossal task would of course take time
and plenty of research but in the long run would prove to be beneficial on a
global scale. Currently, there are no proper design or installation codes in
place for the passive fire protection system. Given that it is still an adolescent
discipline it is acceptable however, there is a sense of urgency for New
Zealand to spearhead this effort looking at the geological condition of the
country.

5.1.3 Research

There is still much research to be done on this matter. The lack of importance
placed on the subject of passive fire protection might a reason why many
academicians and researchers are reluctant to take on passive fire protection as
a research topic. The prevalent assumption across the fire protection industry
is that the passive fire protection system in less important than the active fire

26
 protection system. This notion may be true 30 years ago however it is no
longer true at least not in the case of New Zealand. As stated in earlier parts of
this report, many fires were started by earthquakes and rendered the water
mains useless thus disabling the use of the active fire protection systems. In
other cases, smoke migration has caused more deaths than fatalities due to
burns. It is vital for researchers and industry players to alter their mindsets in
order to ensure the continual development of fire safety is done in a practical
and relevant manner.

5.2 Gaps in Research

As mentioned earlier, severe gaps in literature did affect the research aspect of this
report. Only a modest amount research has been done on the subject of passive fire
protection leaving plenty of room for further development in this area. Having said
that, a large number of the research material available in journals and databases were
on performance and prescriptive based codes. Given that technology has advanced by
leaps and bounds it is surprising that there is little or no literature on the technical
aspects of passive fire protection. It may be deduced from the lack of readily available
research material that the lack of awareness of the importance of passive fire
protection is not only limited to New Zealand but is widespread globally.

27
5.3 Framework

Problem Identification

Non-compliance of Passive Fire Protection in the NZ Building Industry

Isolation of Segments
Lack of Uniform Design Codes and
Lack of Awareness in the Industry Lack of Availble Research and Literature
Installation Guidelines

Analysis
Comparison between performance based
Current Industy Preception Analysis of Existing Literature
codes and prescriptive based codes

Results & Discussion

Conclusion & Further Research

Figure 4: Framework of the Development of the Report

5.4 Further Research

With reference to this study, the subsequent step in this research would be to perform
an extensive building survey on commercial buildings (new and existing) to quantify
the extent of non-compliance of passive fire protection in the country. Bearing in
mind that New Zealand is a relatively small country in terms of population and land to
development ratio collecting data in this manner would be feasible. Also, it would be
a good source of comparison for further research in this area. From the data, the
extent of non compliance can be determined in numerical terms. In relation of the
results, further measures can be taken to rectify the problem such as developing new
design building codes, amending the current regulations to ensure passive fire
protection is given its fair share of importance. Concurrently, guidelines on proper
installation methods should be looked into so that it can be integrated into current
industry conventions as soon as practicable.

28
CHAPTER 6 – CONCLUSION

The passive fire protection industry generally is a comparatively raw discipline which needs a
lot of improvement in areas of research, industry perception and design codes. In the New
Zealand building industry it is a significant problem as demonstrated by a pilot study. With
the collaboration key players in the industry, it is possible to change the current perception
and practice of passive fire protection. The importance of passive fire protection in not only
New Zealand but the entire world is undeniable. However little is known about this area of
fire protection and there is much development to be done. The challenge would be to
forefront this cause with little research and literature to rely on and transforming the current
practices in construction. Even so, this effort must be championed in order to provide safer
buildings to the general public. It would be greatly beneficial to the New Zealand building
industry to take the first step and address this problem since it has not been done before, New
Zealand would be a pioneer in the future development of passive fire protection.

29
APPENDIX

Interview Questions

Question 1

What are the design standards and codes used for Passive Fire Protection?

Question 2

What is the general perception of the importance of Passive Fire Protection amongst:

i. Fire Fighters
ii. Building Owners
iii. Builders/ Contractors

Question 3

On a scale of 1 – 10 (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest), how would you rate the
importance of Passive Fire Protection in terms of:

i. Design
ii. Construction & Installation
iii. Retrofitting

Question 4

In your expert opinion, would you say that the consequences of failures in Passive Fire
Protection are more severe to human lives compared to Active Fire Protection?

Question 5

Who would you say are the key players in ensuring the successful application of Passive Fire
Protection in the building industry?

Question 6

Based on your answer in Question 5, do you think that more efforts should be placed in
increasing the awareness of the importance of Passive Fire Protection amongst this group of
people?

Question 7

In 1991, the New Zealand building codes were substituted from prescriptive based design
codes with performance based design codes. In your expert opinion, do you think that the
building codes need to be revised to remain relevant to the current practices in the building
industry?

30
Question 8

A significant amount of research has been done with regards to the performance criteria used
in fire safety design due to new materials being introduced in construction and sustainable
design. Can you give your thoughts on this?

31
REFERENCES

Ahmad, A., Hassan, S. A., Ripin, A., Ali, M. W., & Haron, S. (2013). A risk-based method
for determining passive fire protection adequacy. Fire Safety Journal, 58, 160 - 169.

Aker, J. M. (2008). The basics of passive fire protection. Buildings, 102(4), 66 - 70.

Beitel, J., Wakelin, A., & Beyler, C. (2000). Analysis of smoke movement in a building via
elevator shafts. Hughes Associates. Beaverton, OR: Smoke Safety Council.

Brannigan, V., & Kilpatrick, A. (2000). Fire scenarios in the enforcement of performance-
based fire safety regulations. Journal of Fire Sciences, 18, 354 - 375.
doi:10.116/VUKX-6TGV-ERUW-K1YC

Buchanan, A. H. (1994). Fire engineering for a performance based code. Fire Safety Journal,
23, 1 - 16.

Buchanan, A. H. (1999). Implementation of performance based fire codes. Fire Safety

Journals, 32, 377 - 383.

Bukowski, R. W., Budnick, E. K., & Schemel, C. F. (2003). Estimates of the Operational
Reliability of the Fire Protection Systems. Retrieved from National Institute of
Standards and Technology: fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/fire02/PDF/

Croce, P. A., Grosshandler, W. L., Bukowski, R. W., & Gritzo, L. A. (2008). The
International FORUM of Fire Research Directors: A position paper on performance-
based design for fire code applications. Fire Safety Journal, 43, 234 - 236.
doi:10.1016/j.firesaf.2007.12.004

Davidson, M. T., E. Harik, I., & B. Davis, D. (2013). Fire impact and passive fire protection
of infrastructure: State of the art. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities,
135 - 143. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0000295.

Fire Protection Association of New Zealand. (2008). Determining barriers to industry

delivery of fire-safe building in New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand: BRANZ.

(2013, July 1). Fire safety and evacuation buildings regulations 2006. Wellington: New
Zealand Legislation.

Fleischmann, C. (2011). Is prescription the future of performance-based design? Tenth

International Symposium of the International Association of Fire Safety Sciences (pp.
77 - 94). International Association of Fire Safety Science.
doi:10.3801/IAFSS.FSS.10-77

Frank, K., Gravestock, N., Spearpoint, M., & Charles, F. (2013). A review of sprinkler
system effectiveness. Fire Science Reviews.

32
Gann, R. G., Babrauskas, V., Peacock, R. D., & Hall, J. R. (1994). Fire conditions for smoke
toxicity measurement. Fire and Materials, 18(3), 193 - 199.

Geonet. (2014). Retrieved from Geonet: http://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/felt/strong

Hadjisophocleous, G. V., & Benichou, N. (1999). Performance criteria used in fire safety
design. Automation in Construction, 8, 489 - 501.

Kodur, V., Garlock, M., & Iwankiw, N. (2007). National workshop on structures in fire:
State of the art, research and training needs. National Institute of Standards and
Technology. East Lansing. MI: US Department of Commerce.

Licht, Richard. (2001, June 3rd May 2014). Maintaining life safety effectiveness in the new
building codes. Retrieved from Alliance for Fire and Smoke Containment & Control :
http://www.afscconline.org

Malhotra, H. (1991). The role of a fire safety engineer. Fire Safety Journal, 17, 129 - 134.

(2010). New Zealand Fire Service: Emergency Incident Statistics. Wellington: New Zealand
Fire Service.

Passive Fire Protection Standards. (2014). Retrieved from National Fire Protection Agency:
http://www.nfpa.org/standard_items/search_results?searchStr=passive%20fire%20pro
tection&keyword=26435

Passive Fire Protection Standards. (2014). Retrieved from Standards New Zealand:
http://shop.standards.co.nz.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/search/ed

Scawthorn, C., O'Rourke, T. D., & Blackburn, F. T. (2006). The 1906 San Francisco
earthquake and fire - enduring lessons for fire protection and water supply.
Earthquake Spectra, 22(S2), 135 - 138. doi:10.1193/1.2186678

United States Emergency Management Agency. (1999). Fire in the United States: 1987 -
1999 (11th Edition). National Fire Data Centre. Arlington, VA: Tridata Corporation.

Woodrow, M., Bisby, L., & Torero, J. L. (2013). A nascent educational framework for fire
safety engineering. Fire Safety Journal, 58, 180 - 194.

33