Fire protection

The building and its building elements must not collapse within a specific period of time since the start of the fire. If it is necessary due to personal safety or in relation to the magnitude of the damages that the building withstands the burning and cooling of the entire fire load without collapsing (Finland's National Building Code E1 / 6.1.1.).

A number of different methods and fire protection agents can be used for the fire protection of supporting structures. Costs, installation and use and operating conditions affect the selection. The most commonly used solutions in Finland are fire protection painting, sheeting and wooling. Fire protection wool and sprays are used for additional fire protection of concrete in reconstruction. Fire protection of wood is ensured by increasing the structure strengths and to some extent by fire protections (coatings and impregnants). These agents prevent or slow down the inflammation. Other methods in use which aim at securing the fire protection are other non-flammable building elements or structures, concrete/water filling and water basting on steel structures.

At the planning and permission stage the general fire safety criteria and boundary conditions for functional dimensioning must be determined. Important phases in terms of ensuring the overall quality of fire protection works in the building phase include making of the fire protection plan (people responsible, structures to be protected, dimensioning criteria and protection methods with agent concentrations), supervision during work (reviews, documented measurings and markings) and compiling the hand-over/quality control material. The instructions for the maintenance phase are determined in the maintenance manual.

During the past few years more and more attention has been paid to the quality assurance of the implementation of fire protection works. Some examples of this trend are the updating of fire protection painting guidelines of Teräsrakenneyhdistys, as well as the introduction of person certification systems for fire protection inspectors.

Generally speaking, several alternatives are available for the implementation of fire protection, which skilled designers and contractors should be able to utilize in a cost-efficient manner.

Palokatkomiehet Ltd assists in the planning of fire protections and provides certified installation and inspection services with over 30 years of experience.