Walk into a new building or one that has recently been refurbished, and what do you notice first? It may be the nature of the space or the quality of materials or even a detail of a sill or a shadow gap. But it's not going to be the firestopping - almost entirely hidden and decidedly unglamorous. Yet the firestopping is the single element that may determine whether the building will still be there in 20 years' time - and whether or not anybody has died in it. Firestopping is the process of making good the breaches that are created in fire compartments when services and other elements are passed through, or alterations made. It is not necessarily difficult to carry out, but there are too many people, both professionals and manual workers, who have little understanding what they are doing. The results, while usually invisible, could be catastrophic.
展开▼
