Page 77 - Build 161

Passive re protection 101
A BRANZ online resource released earlier this year provides comprehensive professional guidance to passive re resistance.
BY PETER WHITING, BRANZ SENIOR FIRE ENGINEER AND FIRE TESTING TEAM LEADER
PASSIVE FIRE PROTECTION refers to the use of construction elements within a building that are designed to prevent or delay the spread of re and smoke to different parts of the structure. Other methods of fire protection that may or may not also be present include active re protection like sprinklers and alarm systems.
Passive re part of the building fabric
Passive re protection provides protection simply by being a part of the building fabric. It has an established performance that is veri ed by test data.
BRANZ’s new Guide to Passive Fire Protection in Buildings educates and provides guidance for the e ective use of passive re protection. It includes providing the right product and installing it correctly in the right situation and describes good practice for the speci cation, approval, installation and veri cation of passive re protection.
Guide starts with compliance overview
The guide is primarily aimed at people working in these areas and sets out to be a passive re protection 101. It starts with a comprehensive de nitions and abbreviations section on terms and acronyms used in the re protection eld. A description of the regu- latory areas of New Zealand Building Code compliance follows with advice about how to read the performance requirements speci ed in the Acceptable Solutions documents.
The various forms of performance veri ca- tion data are detailed from test and assess- ment reports, to CodeMark and Appraisals, to manufacturers’ literature. A flow chart illustrates the di erent compliance pathways identifying the roles and responsibilities to ensure the speci ed performance levels are delivered in the nal building.
Quality installation needed
For the on-site installation to meet the performance requirements, it must meet
the design, speci cations and approvals granted up to this point, and it must be understood and installed correctly by the contractors and subsequent inspectors.
The e ectiveness of passive re protection features is completely dependent on the quality of the installation. It is imperative that the manufacturer’s installation speci ca- tions are followed to ensure it will achieve the veri ed re performance.
Typical passive re features identi ed
Almost half the guide is dedicated to identi- fying the key features of typical passive re features used in New Zealand construction (see Figure 1). This section makes exten- sive use of illustrations to identify the key features that should be present across a variety of passive re features and systems.
This gives installer pointers to the kind of information they should be obtaining from the manufacturer or supplier about the type of feature or system being installed.
Fire safety
Build 161 — August/September 2017 — 75
FEATURE SECTION