Fire compartmentalisation
Fire compartmentalisation saves lives
Fire compartmentalisation is a crucial part of your passive fire protection. It refers to keeping fire contained in a room or area of your building. Whether it is by having 60-minute fire doors that protect your main escape stairwell, or compartment walls between different areas of your building, fire compartmentation is incredibly important. Compartment walls prevent fire from jumping from room to room, floor to floor, or building to building. There are all manner of types of fire protection that will help to prevent the travel of fire throughout your entire building. One of the terrifying things about fire is how quickly it can spread, think of the Great Fire of London, where the fire burned for 4 days and destroyed around 13,200 houses and 87 churches. A fire compartment prevents the spread of fire, giving people time to evacuate and the fire and rescue services time to arrive. Anything that slows or prevents the spread of fire is known as passive fire protection, and anything that gives you more time in a fire saves lives. A correctly installed fire door can hold fire at bay for up to 60 minutes. 60 minutes can give you time for a safe evacuation of thousands of people, as well as the elderly or infirm.
Why do I need fire compartmentation in my building?
Using passive fire protection such as fire compartmentation gives you time. Once there is time to respond to an emergency the level of panic is reduced, enabling people to think and act quickly. Fire is so scary that it can cause mass panic which can have dangerous consequences. There have been notable disasters over the years from stampedes of people. If your fire officers know that the fire compartmentation in your building is tested and effective, they will know how long you have to evacuate the building. Their understanding of the situation will imbue calm into the scenario, enabling people to evacuate safely and considerately. So, not only is it important that you have passive fire protection, but also that people understand about it so that they know what to do in the event of a fire.
How have the UK building regulations changed?
The Fire Safety Act 2021 has been bought into force, following on from the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. There are significant changes in the latest building regulations, as well as the extent of the building that is now under the remit of the Responsible Person. There are changes to the certification of fire doors, and who can certify them. It is important that you use an accredited company such as ourselves for your fire safety works so that you are compliant with the new regulations, remember not knowing the law is not an excuse in the eyes of the law. It is your responsibility to ensure that your building is compliant with the latest regulations.
Why use Spa Decorators for fire safety?
Spa Decorators are accredited fire safety professionals. When you use our team for your fire safety works you can be confident that you are using a trained and qualified company that will ensure that your building is safe, and is up to date with the latest fire regulations. We are independent, impartial advisors and as such, can offer a fire survey that will evaluate your current fire protection and advise on measures that you need to take to bring your building up to modern regulations. We will work with you to safeguard and protect your business, and the safety of all those who use it.
Safeguard your business today
The safety of your business is in your hands, don’t be complacent about fire safety. Too many people think “it’ll never happen to me,” and regret it. The informed and helpful team at Spa Decorators are here for you. Whatever the size of your business and whatever the sector, make sure that you are safe and legal, we offer a range of fire protection services from fire surveys to fire door installation, so let us help protect your business. Don’t leave your fire protection to chance, contact the team at Spa Decorators today.