The provision of an adequate level of passive fire protection is an integral part of any ‘fire engineered’ building or structure.
In the early stages of a fire, passive fire protection safeguards the escape routes during the evacuation of occupants; in the longer term, the building’s integrity must be assured in order to protect emergency services from the threat of structural collapse.
The fire performance of structural steel or concrete can be enhanced in a number of ways, for example by covering the exposed surfaces with high-performance insulating board or, in the case of concrete, through the addition of steel or polypropylene fibres in the mix prior to casting or sprayed application. Both of these methods have been the subject of extensive research and development in recent years, prompted by incidents such as the Mont Blanc Tunnel fire; as a result, there have been significant technological advances in this area and a wide range of new products is available for future projects.
