Buildings are constructed using the International Building Codes and other design documents. To ensure buildings are safe for people to use, building codes use a number of methods to provide for fire protection of the building in times of an emergency

Fire Separations - May be provided:

• At floors levels,
• Between suites,
• Between suites and public corridors,
• At roof/ceiling level,
• Around exit stairs,
• Around service and elevator shafts,
• Around other rooms requiring protection,
• At exterior walls for spatial separation purposes and to support the structural system of the building

Fire Stopping

Using a fire stop systems to seal openings where they pass through fire separations - to seal around building services to prevent the passage of smoke and flames for a period of time, as tested in a laboratory.


Concealed Space Barrier: Barriers, built in concealed spaces and at floor levels.

Fire Alarm, Detection and Suppression Systems: Fire alarm, detection and sprinkler systems - When a fire emergency occurs in a building, the
major concerns are:

• Evacuating the occupants before they are overcome by toxic smoke and fumes, and
• Containing the fire in one area, to prevent the spread of fire to the remainder of the building.

These goals are realized by constructing and installing good fire protection measures into a building of which fire stopping is a key component

Here are a few reasons why everyone needs to pay more attention to fire stopping.

• Fire statistics indicate that 67% of fire deaths are due to smoke and gases.
• Over 44% of such deaths occur in other than the room of fire origin.
• Visibility is impaired - 47% of survivors caught in a fire could not see more than 12 feet within the first 90 seconds.
• Smoke travels at 50-300 feet per minute

Building Services (Fire Stops)

When building services such as plumbing pipes, mechanical ducts/chimneys, electrical and communication wires are installed in a building, some of them pass through fire separations or membranes forming part of a fire separation.

To ensure the fire separation performs as intended, it is necessary to seal around all penetrations with a fire stop system to restrict the spread of flame and hot gases through the openings created by installing the building services.

The System: A fire stop system is a tested system that is made up of a number of components that act together to prevent the passage of hot gases and flame through a fire separation. For walls, identical fire stop systems are applied to each side of the wall.

For floors, the fire stop system is applied below or within the opening through the floor

Thermofire, a member of The Firestop Contractors International Association - USA (FCIA) offers supply and application of various Fire Stop Systems against Cellulosic & Hydrocarbon Fires