Fire and passive fire protection

By Ed Soja – 1 February 2008, Build 104, Feature article

Most fire-related deaths occur because people don’t escape before they are affected by either smoke or by the fire itself. ‘Means of escape’ is therefore an important aspect of any building design.

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By Amanda Robbins – 1 October 2013, Build 138

Successful fire modelling is a specialist field that requires the correct choice and application of the modelling tool and careful selection of experiments to validate the design.

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By Greg Baker – 1 October 2014, Build 144, Feature article

Fire research led by BRANZ is studying the best design approach for stopping fire spread in buildings. It’s part of a project to keep people safe and to reduce property damage.

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By Kevin Frank – 1 April 2019, Build 171, Feature article

Resolving firestopping compliance issues in existing buildings can be difficult. BRANZ research is helping bring consistency to the process of determining what is reasonable and practicable when undertaking building alterations.

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By Jeff Parker – 1 April 2019, Build 171, Feature article

A new guide for professionals and specifiers looks at how to design timber buildings for fire safety, including Building Code requirements.

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By Stuart Robertson, Ossama Mohamed – 1 April 2021, Build 183, Feature article

Building defects causing weathertightness issues are still prominent today, although some causes have changed over the years. Remediation costs are higher than ever, and the importance of determining liability continues to be critical.

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By Peter Rice – 1 February 2008, Build 104, Feature article

Repairing fire damaged buildings is quite a different challenge from new construction. We turn to an ex-builder, now insurance loss adjuster, to understand the role of builders during the restoration phase.

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By Mark Gannon – 1 December 2010, Build 121

There are types and styles of fire doors to suit different aesthetics and design schemes. The important thing for their effectiveness, though, is that they have been tested to as 1530.4:1997 and installed correctly.

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By Nick Saunders – 1 October 2012, Build 132, Feature article

Changes to the Building Code around fire protection aim to give greater certainty to designers and building officials and lead to cost savings, fewer disputes and more creative engineering solutions. So, what’s changed?

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By Kevin Frank – 1 August 2017, Build 161, Feature article

BRANZ investigations into the effect of flames projecting from building openings such as windows will result in useful guidelines for fire safety practitioners.

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