Fire Stopping for IKEA in Southampton, Hampshire
The Principal Contractor for IKEA approached us about conducting fire stopping under certification at one of their branches in Southampton, Hampshire.
The fire stopping was required because new services had been installed at the store. This had resulted in penetrations breaching the compartment walls.
Every building has services like electrical cables, plumbing and drainage pipes that must run throughout a building in order for it to operate properly.
The holes/openings in the fire walls that are made for these cables and pipes to run are called penetrations. They can form breaches within the fire resisting walls. This can allow the spread of smoke, heat and fire throughout the building. So it's important that these breaches are filled to slow and stop that spread.
So fire resisting insulation and other specialised products are installed. This is to ensure that both sides of the wall or floors have been properly sealed to contain any breaches.
This 'fire stopping' is an essential part of building safety. It is the process we use in our industry to prevent and slow down the spread of fire around penetrations of a building.
Once the Blake's team had concluded what fire stopping was required, we commenced the works:
- using approved products,
- installing under certification and
- recording the works on our digital system, Bolster.
Bolster is a great tool to have at our disposal. It manages the process of documenting all fire barrier penetrations and passive fire protection. And provides a permanent record of fire-stopped locations.
The areas of work are recorded by placing a pin on a floor plan, giving a location reference, and providing information of what was installed.
The client is given access to this system, where they can view the information in real time. This provides them with the 'golden thread': a clear understanding of what was installed, giving them peace of mind and supporting building safety.
According to the government...
The golden thread is both:
- the information about a building that allows someone to understand a building and keep it safe, and
- the information management to ensure the information is accurate, easily understandable, can be accessed by those who need it and is up to date.
The fire stopping work had to be completed front of house and in close proximity to the public - the store's customers. So, naturally, it took place out of hours. And we worked closely with the store and their very helpful staff.
It was our pleasure to work with IKEA on this project, and we especially enjoyed their tasty, iconic, and delicious IKEA meatballs!
If you have any breaches that require fire stopping, give us a call and we will be happy to help on your project. Call Blake Fire & Security on 01702 447800, email us at info@blakefire-security.co.uk or complete one of the forms on this website to get your free quote.
