With the booming construction industry in the Gulf generating new buildings every day, there are major requirements to be considered, and one of them is the fire safety of buildings, says a spokesman for Firestopit, a UK-based manufacturer of a range of passive fire protection systems.

“The stability of a building in a fire depends upon the performance of all the component parts of the structure. Buildings are designed to keep products of combustion away from building occupants, allowing them time to escape safely. Regulations that govern the design of buildings also take into consideration the safety of fire fighters who attend an incident. Thus, if a building is adequately protected, it should withstand a fire for a reasonable time, without collapse or passage of fire through compartment walls and floors,” says Carl Atkinson of Firestopit.
The Firestopit range of passive fire protection – which is marketed by its UAE distributor Sealant Technology – can be applied to the components of a building to ensure adequate fire performance.
“This may apply to the fire performance of the elements themselves or to the improvement in fire performance gained by the addition of specialised materials, products or systems. As with all complex and dynamic structures, any weak links must be spotted if disaster is to be avoided,” he says.
Firestopit manufactures a range of proven passive fire protection solutions including sealants, boards, mortars and pipe seals, all tested to international standards with Dubai Civil Defence and Certifire certification.
Its range of products has been installed in many projects throughout Dubai including the Four Seasons Hotel with Arenco as the consultant; Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) with RMJM as the consultant; Beirut Tunnel (Parsons); Burj Dubai (Goodwin Austin); Mall of the Emirates (WSP/Hyder); Grosvenor Hotel (Archon); and the Dubai Festival City (Waterman/Mazaraki).
Atkinson continues: “When used within the fire safety design of a building, Firestopit materials and products offer either structural stability or act as fire-separating elements (or compartmentalisation). In both cases, the products will provide protection for a specified period of time.”
“Firestopit brands of Silverseal, Silverflame, Stopseal and Pyrocoustic provides the time necessary for the other parts of the fire strategy to operate. Within the strategy, the way in which an alarm is raised, the occupants react and the fire response systems (including fire fighters) operate must therefore be taken into account. Without this time, the rest of the strategy cannot work.
“Insurers also have an interest in the way in which buildings perform in a fire situation, not least of which is their desire to avoid total property or business loss. If occupiers can resume operations with a minimal business interruption, everyone’s interests are served. For this to happen, the spread of any fire must be restricted, if possible to the compartment of origin. In all cases, the spread of smoke and flames can only be restricted or delayed by sound fire separating elements, and this requires regular inspection of the structure by those who know what to look for.
“The performance in practice of all construction materials is dependant upon the way in which the product is installed. For this reason, it is recommended that there is third-party accreditation of both materials and installers – a principle that is also endorsed by Firestopit.
“At Firestopit, our objective is to provide designers, regulators, building owners and occupiers with a simple reference guide that provides basic information on the many forms of passive fire protection found in buildings.
“Often, it is not realised how much the individual elements of construction contribute to the fire performance of the complete structure, nor how the structural performance is vital to a success fire strategy. Firestopit hopes that the information provided will help all concerned to understand the ways in which these elements work together to ensure public safety,” Atkinson concludes.