Passive Fire Protection (PFP) uses strategically placed structural components within a building to segment a fire and prevent it spreading.
The structural elements within the building are fire resistant, thus giving no additional fuel for the fire to consume and therefore containing the spread. These structural fireproof elements consist of fireproof concrete walls and floors along with fire resistant doors.
By isolating fire to one part of a building it is then easier to contain and eliminate. This prevents the fire from spreading to the neighboring rooms or offices and helps save human lives by providing more time to evacuate the premises. Coupled with increasing the safety for the occupants, Passive Fire Protection also offers reduced damage to structural components in the greater building which saves money in remediation work. Having Passive Fire Protection in a building may also help reduce insurance costs.
Smoke inhalation is the primary cause of death for victims of fires in 50-80% of the cases. The inhalation or exposure to hot waste residues and gases from building construction elements can cause fatal respiratory symptoms or ongoing complications to breathing. Using Passive Fire Protection prevents the spread of the fire and thus prevents more toxic building components from catching fire, giving the occupants more time to escape into a safe area and then focus on evacuating the building.
The hot smoke injures or kills by a combination of thermal damage, poisoning and pulmonary irritation and swelling caused by carbon monoxide, cyanide and other combustion products.
Passive Fire Protection is a vital part of any fire design – safeguarding human life and reducing the risk to property in the event of a fire. Passive Fire Protection is designed into the structure of a building providing fire separations in the form of fire rated floors and walls. Fire separation is used to form fire compartments – which restrict the spread of fire and smoke within the building allowing occupants to escape and offering protection to fire fighters. Many fire separations will have openings formed within, either for the passage of building services such as cables, pipes, ducting or for the installation of fire rated glazing, doors, inspection hatches or service risers. Passive Fire Protection is both complex and detailed and at Cake Commercial Services we ensure adequate time is spent researching the correct product has been specified, sourced and installed to ensure the chosen system is building code compliant.
