Fire Stopping Penetrations Part 1

This is a great picture of how fire stopping is done.

As you can see, one penetration has been fire caulked while the one right next to it has not been.

Many times each subcontractor will be responsible for doing his own fire stopping. This at times will get confusion for some generals as to who has done what.

On other occasions, this may be an existing building that a new utility was added to and nobody bothered to do any fire stopping.

When accepting fire stopping make sure that the product and the application are compatible with the proper UL listing. Each manufacturer has different products and applications, but they need to meet the appropriate UL listing.

In addition, depending on what type of occupancy this is, those wires may need to be plenum rated. Ask for specifications and ensure that the materials being used are appropriate.

Stay safe and I will be posting more on fire stopping. It is crucial in keeping fire travel to a minimum.

http://firefightersenemy.com

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Permalink Reply by Steve Davis on January 14, 2010 at 1:59pm

Caution: Just because it is red, doesn't mean it is fire caulking. I have seen (and cited) contractors for claiming their used fire caulking as required only to find that it is simple caulking with red spray paint covering it, with the hopes that we won't realize it and move to the next. scratch the surface with a pen or sharp object to see for certain if they are trying to cheat the system.