Passive Fire Safety 3

Surface Linings, Ceilings, Partitions,

Doors & Glazing

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Aims – Session 3

• To explain the effects of the room on fire development

and the use of surface lining controls
• To discuss effective barriers including ceilings, partitions,
doors & glazing.

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Fire Growth
From sessions 1 & 2
• Given fuel, air and time, fire will develop & spread
• Control of fire spread requires fire resistance
• Barriers are considered effective when they perform for
‘long enough’.

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Fire Development – Role of Construction

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 Fire Growth

Hot smoke layer of combustion gases

building down & increasing in temperature
Flame
spread
1 encouraged
by wall & 2 Ventilation
lining opening
material insufficient to
Build up of radiated heat
balance heat
3 escaping with
Auto-ignition of heat released
remainder of contents

Flashover
4 Fully developed fire

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Fire Growth
When a fire becomes established in a room:

• The wall effect may assist its growth

• The ceiling effect will assist its growth

• The ceiling height will prove critical to fire growth

• The containment of all the heat from the fire will

prove critical to barrier performance.

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BS 476 : Part 7 – Surface Spread of Flame
• Class 1 – Limit of flame spread 165mm
• Class 2 – Limit of flame spread 455mm
• Class 3 – Limit of flame spread 710mm
• Class 4 – Anything beyond 710mm.

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Wall & Ceiling Linings

Location Class
Small rooms < 4m2 in residential buildings < 30m2
3
in non-residential
Other rooms 1
Circulation spaces 0

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Surface Spread of Flame
What do we mean by Class 0?
The highest product performance class for lining materials
is Class 0. It is not a classification identified in any British
Standard test, as such. It is achieved when the surface is:
• composed throughout of materials of limited
combustibility
or
• a Class 1 material with a fire propagation index (I) < 12,
and a sub-index (i) < 6.

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Fire Propagation Index
• A rate of heat release index based on the heat output
from the product when subjected to a low temperature
(smouldering) fire and compared to time
• The later in the test the product reacts, the lower the
index will be

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Fire Propagation

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Class 0
Acceptable Class 0 Surfaces
• Non-combustible surfaces – brick, stone, render, plaster,
ceramic tiles
• Non-combustible surfaces (including plasterboard) with
a plain decoration
• Emulsion or eggshell paint (not oil)
• Plain wallpaper or thin vinyl wallpaper
• Decorative or other board specifically manufactured to
meet the requirements.

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Classification of Linings

Location BS Class Euro Class

Small rooms 3 D
Other rooms 1 C
Circulation spaces 0 B
• Euro Class A relates to non-combustible
• Euro Class E & F are not acceptable

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Classification of Common Boards – Table 3, page 17

Material Part 7 Building Regs

Boards made wholly from timber 3
Boards containing cement or plaster 1 0
Plasterboard 1 0

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Timber Surfaces
The performance of timber surfaces can be improved by:
• Chemical treatment by pressure impregnation – stops
flaming
• Surface coatings usually based on intumescent paint –
insulates surface.

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False Ceilings
• Very lightweight construction using steel tee section &
fibre-based tiles
• Hang on wires from structure
• Can be fire resisting, but rarely are
• Usually only surface flame spread controls on the tiles
(can be Class 0)
• Conceal fire spread routes in older buildings without
cavity barriers.

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False Ceiling – Typical Construction

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Canary Wharf Tower

Services above
false ceiling

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Fire Resisting Doors
BS 8214 – Code of Practice for doors with non-metallic
leaves
A fire door is:

‘A door or shutter provided for the passage of persons,

air or things which, together with its frame and furniture
as installed in the building, is intended, when closed, to
restrict the passage of fire and/or gaseous products of
combustion and is capable of meeting specified
performance criteria to those ends’.

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Fire Resisting Doors
Denoted as FD30S:
FD Fire door
30 Minutes integrity (barrier to flame & hot gases)
S Smoke seal (barrier to smoke at ambient temperature
as in BS 476: Part 31.1)

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Fire Resisting Doors
• Traditionally fire doors have been identified by coloured
code plugs set into the edge of the door leaf
• This approach means that few doors are identifiable
since the great majority will have had the plugs removed
during the installation process
• Alternative approaches include labels on the end of the
door leaf.

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Fire Resisting Doors
For a fire door to be effective, it must resist the two main
types of failure:
• Solid construction will control burn through,
supplemented by intumescent seals protecting the door
edges
• Framed construction will resist warping, supplemented
by the action of the intumescent seals ‘wedging’ the door
in its frame.

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Fire Resisting Doors
• Hinges
• Three hinges are needed to support the weight of a fire
door
• The hinges should be in a material having a high melting
point (800oC)
• The hinges should be hard wearing, preferably with
washers to prevent wear allowing the door to ‘drop’.

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Positioning of Hinges

Lightweight Heavy doors Tall doors

doors When load (over 2100mm)
Two hinges may bearing is the On tall doors or
be fitted. On prime those which are
doors subject to consideration, particularly
warping (such fit four hinges. subject to
Standard doors as glazed warping (such
The standard positioning doors) fit a third as glazed
when fitting three hinges to hinge in the doors) fit four
a door is as shown. This centre of the hinges, equally
gives the most effective door. spaced
load bearing capability.

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Fire Resisting Doors
Closers
• Door closers are most commonly the ‘overhead type’ at
the top of the door
• Some will have ‘floor springs’ where the closer is under
the door. These allow the door to swing in both
directions
• Some doors will have the ‘Perkomatic’ type fully
concealed closer
• Whichever type is present, correct adjustment is
essential.

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Fire Resisting Doors
• Fire doors do not have to be closed all the time, but they
must be able to close when needed
• Magnetic hold open devices can be built into the closer
or separate on the wall. These are linked to the fire
alarm and normally require smoke detectors to make
them operate
• ‘Dorguard’ is a battery operated foot bolt. It is effectively
a wedge that releases when the alarm sounds.

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Dorguard

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Fire Resisting Doors
Other ironmongery matters
• Fire resisting letter plates are available for flats
• Doors on escape routes should not be fitted with key-
operated locks, ‘thumb turns’ are preferred
• Security often involves magnetic locks which release
with activation of the fire alarm

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Fire Resisting Glazing
• Glass is a weak link in controlling fire spread and also to
life safety as radiant heat passes through it
• Glass can shatter as it expands, and also melts above
about 730°C
• It can be made fire resisting though…

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Fire Resisting Glazing
Non-insulating glazing can be made fire-resisting by:
• Using wired glass
or
• Using modified toughened glass
together with
• Clamping the glass tightly in place using chamfered
hardwood beads, screwed in.

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Fire Resisting Glazing
• If wired glass is not used, each pane must be marked in
one corner with the type of glass used, usually a trade
name
• However, with the requirement for safety glass in the
workplace, most glass will be marked anyway…
...and some types meet both standards!
• BS 6206 signifies ‘safety breakage’.

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Fire Resisting Glazing
• Insulating glazing is usually several layers laminated
together using intumescent inter-layers
• The intumescent layers foam up and become cloudy,
thus stopping the radiant heat. The glass also stays cool
and, as it is so thick, is safe in breaking.

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 Any
Questions?

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Presentation History
Passive Fire Safety 3
Date created: 22nd March 2016 Author: Unknown Approver: S Skarratt

Superseded presentation:

Videos / linked objects:

Version control info: FSFRA3D_PassiveFireSafety3_v1_20160322_SS

Amendments
Date Summary of Change Requester Approver

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