Compartmentalizing New Construction With Fire Barriers
As a general contractor, there’s a lot of pressure to make sure that your building, as well as its occupants, will be safe during an emergency. And thanks to modern construction materials being used today, buildings are being built quickly and efficiently. However, as convenient as this is, it can create some fire safety issues.
Newer buildings are built with engineered beams of wood, which are small pieces of wood glued together. This makes the wood lightweight allowing it to burn quickly and collapse almost instantaneously. Not to mention, modern furniture and coverings, which are made out of synthetic materials don’t help either. Because modern construction and furnishings go up in flames so quickly, compartmentalizing new construction with fire barriers is essential to the integrity of the building as well as the safety of its occupants.
Compartmentalizing is simply taking a building and dividing it into sections that will be closed off from the rest of the building during an emergency. From fire and smoke dampers to fire doors, there are various ways of preventing the spread of fire and smoke through the use of fire barriers. One of the many ways to compartmentalize a facility is through the use of a building’s fire walls, partitions, and smoke barriers, which are used to contain the spread of fire and increase the means of evacuation.
Fire Walls are an exterior fire-resistance-rated wall designed to contain a fire within the area of its origin for a set amount of time. According to the International Building Code, fire walls extend continuously from the base of the building all the way to the roof. They are built with significant structural stability under fire conditions, which allows for fire walls to remain standing if the rest of the construction were to collapse. Fire walls are also usually thicker than a normal wall and will typically have a 3 to 4-hour fire-resistance rating.
Fire Partitions are interior walls that subdivide areas on a particular floor within a building. Fire partitions are vertical assemblies that extend from the floor only to the ceiling. However, they may be attached to the ceiling or floor for support. Typically, fire partitions will only have a 1 to 2-hour fire-resistance rating.
Smoke Barriers are a continuous membrane that is designed and constructed to restrict the passage of smoke. They can either be vertical, like a wall or horizontal, like a floor or ceiling. Smoke barriers will have a minimum of a 1-hour fire-resistance rating.
Compartmentalizing your facility is one of the best ways to help contain fire and smoke to its point of origin while waiting for first responders. Unfortunately, the biggest cause of failure in fire barriers is unprotected or improperly protected openings from penetrations. To maintain the integrity of a wall, proper firestopping will seal off any holes and gaps and help minimize the spread of fire and smoke.
