Fire Compartmentation Survey

Fire Compartmentation Survey 

Passive Fire Protection refers to the built-in safety measures designed to slow the spread of fire and smoke without requiring any action or trigger to operate. These systems are always on, quietly embedded into the structure of buildings, vehicles, and industrial equipment.

Passive fire protection is essential for building and managing different structures as part of fire safety. In environments where machinery are often used for long periods, electrical panels stay hot, and combustible materials are never far off. This makes electrical hazards like overloaded circuits or faulty wiring pose a significant ignition risk. In these settings, the real question isn’t if a fire will occur, but when—and when it does, seconds matter. For industries like construction, mining, logistics, and manufacturing, passive fire protection systems are often the first and only line of defense between a manageable incident and a full-blown shutdown.

Implementing passive fire protection methods help do the following:               

·        Contain the blaze at its source

·        Maintain safe evacuation paths

·        Preserve structural integrity during extreme heat

·        Protect critical infrastructure like server rooms or control panels

·        Give emergency responders valuable time to intervene

Across global markets, there are clear frameworks outlining fire-resistant design and maintenance standards. Some of which are the following:

·        NFPA 221 – US standard for High Challenge Fire Walls

• The Factories Act, 1948
• State Fire Safety Regulations (issued by State Fire Services)

·        BS EN 1366 – UK and EU guideline for Fire Resistance Tests for Building Services

·        AS 1530 – Australian methods for Fire Tests on Building Materials

·        ISO 834 – International Standard Fire Resistance Tests

·        The Fire Safety Order 2005 – UK law mandating fire risk assessment and mitigation

Fire Safety Laws in India Mandate Comprehensive Prevention Measures Across Sectors with Strict Compliance Requirements

Yes, compartmentation is a legal requirement in India to prevent the spread of fire, as mandated by the National Building Code (NBC), which specifies adherence to compartmentalization technology in building design for enhanced fire safety. Building codes, such as those found in Part 4 (Fire Safety) of the NBC, require the use of fire-resistant materials and construction techniques to divide buildings into compartments that can contain a fire.

Here are the four principles associated with implementing and ensuring effective passive fire protection:

1.   Containment: Fires grow by finding fuel and oxygen. Containment limits their reach by cutting off those resources using fire-rated barriers that resist penetration.

2.   Compartmentalization: Buildings and facilities are divided into zones, separated by fire-resistant materials. If one compartment catches fire, others remain protected for a designated time (e.g., 60 or 120 minutes).

3.   Structural Fire Resistance: Passive systems protect critical supports like steel beams or cable trays from rapid failure, allowing structures to stay upright longer under intense heat.

4.   Smoke and Toxic Gas Control: Passive fire protection doesn’t just focus on flames, as smoke, especially in enclosed or underground areas, is often the deadliest threat. Seals, dampers, and airtight closures prevent toxic fumes from traveling quickly through buildings.

The objective of fire compartmentation is to prevent the spread of smoke, gases, and flames. By subdividing the building with fire resisting construction, escape routes and high-risk or high-value areas are protected to ensure the safety of occupants and prevent extensive losses. 

Our teams will visually inspect all areas of the identified compartment lines within your building to assess their likely performance in the event of a fire. Defects in compartmentation lines can take numerous forms and require expert identification.

A suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment will typically involve a review of existing fire compartmentation measures through a sampling approach (walls, floors, voids, and shafts predominantly). 

Sampling can indicate the presence of significant issues, such as locating or confirming the presence of fire dampers, or establishing if existing measures meet the requirements of current guidance or other specific business resilience objectives.

Common defects include: simple penetrations, such as pipework entering or exiting a compartment with gaps, or inappropriate firestopping, allowing smoke or fire to potentially pass from one compartment to another. Other defects include: cabling, voids, ducts or linear gaps where compartment lines do not fully encapsulate the compartment. These defects are either latent, from the original build, or imposed from subsequent works (such as M&E events). Both are reiterating the need for regular inspection.

SSA INTEGRATE offer four distinct survey types

Indicative

SSA INTEGRATE will undertake all elements of the "standard" compartmentation survey, but only to selected floors or areas of a building. This will give you the same detail of electronic reporting within your chosen areas, from which our specialists will extrapolate results to enable indicative results to be presented for review.

Standard

Our standard survey is classed as "invasive". This means we will review all areas of the building, along with inspecting some harder to reach areas, such as roof voids, above suspended ceilings, and through inspection hatches in solid ceilings.

Enhanced

This option provides all the benefits of the "standard" survey, but includes additional indicative destructive works, including a percentage of identified areas for further investigation. In most cases, this will include 10% of soil vent pipes and 5% of behind architraves. Our teams will make good on all works, with follow-up attention by your chosen decorator.

Destructive

All elements of the "non-intrusive" survey, together with a pre-defined scope of intrusive works that are defined as a greater requirement than the enhanced survey option. The Fire Compartmentation Inspection Report Electronically recording all deficiencies. along with photographic evidence, the report will highlight the following:

A unique identifying number for each defect

Location

Room type

Required fire rating

Penetrating service type

Seal type required

Date and surveyor details

Due to full Compartmentation Surveys only being required for large, complex buildings, a Compartmentation Sample Survey could be more suitable for your organisation.  

·        Based on a minimum of 10 buildings. 

·        Surveys sample areas of each building (including samples of doors), to provide a general overview of compartment defects that are representative of all buildings.

·        Includes recommended actions.

·        Provides a risk rating for the buildings based on survey findings.

·        Significantly quicker and more cost-effective than a full Compartmentation Survey. 

FAQ:

What is a Fire Compartmentation Survey?  

Fire Compartmentation involves dividing a room, space, or storey of a building into fire-resistant compartments. This is achieved through the implementation and maintenance of fire-resisting floors and walls. Any openings or penetrations in the floors or walls, such as doors, windows, or service penetrations, must be installed and maintained to ensure the wall or floor remains fully sealed. A Compartmentation Survey assesses the condition of these elements of construction in providing fire-resisting compartmentation and identifies any subsequent defects.

When is a Fire Compartmentation Survey needed?  

Currently, there is no legal requirement specifying how often a Fire Compartmentation Survey should be conducted. Compartmentation should be reviewed as part of a regular Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) review process. If issues with compartmentation are raised in the FRA, particularly in hard-to-access areas, then a Compartmentation Survey is crucial to provide a comprehensive assessment. Compartmentation Surveys are also essential when serious defects are identified in either the common parts or inside the flats, as these cannot be accurately investigated during the FRA. 

What does a Fire Compartmentation Survey involve?  

Our Compartmentation Survey options are based on your needs and tailored to each of your buildings. As we don’t undertake remedial works following the Compartmentation Survey, you can be confident that our advice is impartial and reliable to avoid any unnecessary costs. Each survey is meticulously designed to assess various aspects, helping you select the most suitable choice for your organisation.

About Author:

Dr. Arindam Bhadra is a Fire safety consultant  & ISO Auditor based in Kolkata, India, with over 20 years of experience in Fire safety systems. He’s currently founding director of the Sprinkler Fire Safety Awareness and Welfare Foundation & SSA Integrate. He working on Fire Safety awareness, training, consultancy & Audit in same field. Dr. Arindam Bhadra is popularly known as "Fire ka Doctor" because of his expertise in fire safety, prevention, and awareness, helping people and organizations stay safe from fire hazards. He is Member of FSAI, NFPA, Conformity Assessment Society (CAS) etc. He is certified fire Inspector and certified Fire Protection professional.