It’s always tragic to hear about families being forced from their home due to a fire. Unfortunately, many living in the Grenfell Tower Apartments in London had suffered that fate last Wednesday. In the early morning of June 14th, a fire tore through the 24-story apartment building causing many to evacuate as quickly as possible.
In the summer of 2016, improvements to the building had been made after a fire risk assessment on the tower had taken place. This assessment included the installation of a new heating system, which required the pipes in the floors to be replaced. In order to install the new pipes, the firestopping systems used had to be partially removed. According to a “Sustainability and Energy Statement” authored by engineers from Max Fordham, the intention was to replace the firestopping once the new pipes had been installed. However, there are still questions as to whether the firestopping had been properly installed.
We can’t emphasize enough the importance of making sure you firestop your building’s fire barriers properly, and the Grenfell Tower fire demonstrates just that. Ensuring that your building’s firestop materials have been properly replaced after undergoing renovations may seem like a tiny insignificant task, when in fact it vital to the integrity of the building and the safety of its occupants. Firestop products are designed to help prevent the spread of fire and smoke by filling in gaps and holes around penetrating items in fire-rated walls, ceilings and floors. Some products will even expand in the presence of heat. But in order for them to work correctly, the firestop materials must be properly installed and maintained regularly.
Both the 2006 and the 2009 International Fire Code require routine maintenance of fire barrier walls. They state, “Walls must be properly repaired when damaged, altered, breached or penetrated. Any penetrations found should be repaired with approved methods capable of resisting the passage of fire”.
