Fire stopping services for commercial buildings
Stop fire and smoke spreading through the gaps where pipes, cables and ducts pass through walls and floors. We provide fire stopping surveys, installation, inspection and maintenance for commercial buildings, delivered by our sister company Aran Fire Protection.
- Passive fire protection
- Surveys and installation
- Inspection and maintenance
At a glance
- Based in
- Huntingdon
- Covering
- Cambridgeshire and East Anglia
- Delivered by
- Aran Fire Protection, our sister company in the New Path group
- Services
- Fire stopping surveys, installation, inspection and maintenance
- Buildings
- Offices, warehouses, care homes, schools and laboratories
- Related
- Fire doors, fire alarms and fire risk assessments
Overview
Commercial fire stopping covering Cambridgeshire and East Anglia
Fire stopping seals the openings and gaps in fire-resisting walls and floors, so that fire and smoke cannot pass from one part of a building to the next. BDi Advance provides fire stopping for commercial buildings through our sister company Aran Fire Protection, part of the New Path group and based alongside us in Huntingdon. From installation to inspection and maintenance, Aran covers all aspects of fire stopping for commercial properties.
- Fire stopping surveys based on the building's fire strategy drawings
- Sealing around pipes, cables and ducts in fire-resisting walls and floors
- Gaps around fire door frames fire stopped correctly
- Inspection and maintenance of existing fire stopping
- A full audit trail of the work carried out
- One contact for fire stopping, fire doors, fire alarms and fire risk assessments
Fire stopping starts with a survey. Call 01223 566 599 or send us your details and we will arrange one.
Costs
What affects the cost of fire stopping?
No two buildings cost the same to fire stop, which is why the work is surveyed before it is quoted. These are the things that move the price.
Number of openings
Biggest factor
Every pipe, cable, duct and gap that passes through a fire-resisting wall or floor needs sealing. The more services a building has, the more openings there are to deal with.
Access
Site specific
Much fire stopping sits above ceilings, in risers and behind panels, where openings take longer to reach and seal.
Condition of existing fire stopping
Varies
Where earlier fire stopping has been damaged, removed during alterations or never completed, the survey shows how much needs putting right.
Size and type of opening
Varies
A single cable through a wall needs a different seal from a large duct or a cluster of pipes, so the mix of openings affects the price.
Working around occupants
If required
Occupied buildings such as offices, schools and care homes may need the work phased around the people using them.
Inspection and maintenance
Ongoing
New cabling and building works can breach existing fire stopping, so periodic inspection keeps the compartments intact.
Passive fire protection
What is fire stopping?
Fire stopping is part of a building's passive fire protection. Fire-resisting walls and floors divide a building into compartments, and fire stopping seals the gaps where pipes, cables and ducts pass through them, so each compartment keeps fire and smoke contained.
It creates barriers that contain the fire, giving occupants more time to evacuate safely and limiting the damage to the building. Unlike a fire alarm, it needs no power and does its job without being switched on, but only if the seals are complete and undamaged.
Why fire stopping matters
Fire stopping plays a crucial role in preventing the spread of fire within a building. When it is missing or damaged, fire and smoke can bypass the walls and floors that are meant to hold them back.
Life safety
Containing fire and smoke within one compartment gives occupants more time to evacuate safely, reducing the risk of injury or loss of life.
Property protection
Fire stopping helps limit the damage caused by fire, protecting the structure of the building and reducing the cost of recovery.
Compliance and insurance
Many building regulations require fire stopping measures to protect occupants, and insurers often expect buildings to have adequate fire protection in place. A fire risk assessment is often where missing fire stopping is first identified.
Fire stopping surveys and inspection
You cannot see most fire stopping once ceilings and panels are back in place, so a survey is the only way to know what condition it is in. Aran's surveys record exactly where work is needed and what has been done.
What a survey covers
Using the building's existing fire strategy drawings, digital 'live pins' are dropped onto the floor plan, highlighting the exact location where fire stopping works are required. The same record gives a full audit trail for the works once they have been completed.
Inspection and maintenance
Existing fire stopping is inspected and repaired or replaced where it has been damaged, removed or never completed. Checks are worth repeating after building work, refits or new cabling that passes through fire-resisting walls or floors.
Fire stopping is carried out by Aran Fire Protection, our sister company in the New Path group. About the New Path group office in Huntingdon
What we seal
Where fire stopping is needed
Any service that passes through a fire-resisting wall or floor creates an opening that fire and smoke can travel through.
These are the most common places a survey finds work to do.
Pipes
Water, heating and waste pipes passing through compartment walls and floors.
Common in: plant rooms, kitchens, toilets and risers.
Worth knowing: plastic pipes can soften in a fire and leave an open hole, so they need a different seal from metal pipes.
Cables and cable trays
Power and data cables, singly or in bundles and trays, running between rooms and floors.
Common in: offices, server rooms and ceiling voids.
Worth knowing: new cabling added after a building is finished is one of the most common ways fire stopping gets breached.
Ducts and service openings
Ventilation ducts and larger openings where several services pass through together.
Common in: risers, plant rooms and corridors.
Worth knowing: larger openings need a seal matched to their size and to what passes through them.
Fire door frames and gaps
The gap between a fire door frame and the wall around it, and other joints in fire-resisting construction.
Common in: corridors, stairwells and compartment walls.
Worth knowing: a fire door can only do its job when the gap around its frame is fire stopped correctly.
Fire stopping surveys and installation
How it works
Fire stopping starts with a survey. Using the building's existing fire strategy drawings, every opening that needs work is pinned on the floor plan, so you can see exactly where it is before anything is quoted.
Survey
Openings that need fire stopping are marked with digital live pins on your floor plans
Quotation
A quotation based on what the survey found, rather than a price list
Installation
Fire stopping works carried out by Aran Fire Protection
Records
A full audit trail of the works completed, location by location
Inspection
Periodic inspection and maintenance, including after building or cabling work
Part of the New Path fire and security group
BDi Advance and Aran Fire Protection are partner companies in the New Path group, working from the same office at 7 Ramsay Court, Hinchingbrooke Business Park, Huntingdon. Aran carries out the fire stopping and fire door work, alongside the fire alarms and security systems we provide, and fire risk assessments arranged through our sister company, Pyro Fire.
Fire stopping across Cambridgeshire and East Anglia
We are a Cambridgeshire business, and our colleagues at Aran Fire Protection work from the same Huntingdon office. Aran provides fire stopping for commercial properties nationwide, and we also work with national clients across the UK.
Areas we cover
We arrange fire stopping surveys, installation and inspection for commercial buildings across Cambridgeshire and East Anglia, including Cambridge, Huntingdon, Peterborough, St Ives, St Neots, Ely, Wisbech, March, Newmarket and Bury St Edmunds.
Our office is at 7 Ramsay Court, Hinchingbrooke Business Park, Huntingdon.
Sectors
Aran provides passive fire protection to offices, warehouses, care homes, schools, laboratories and many other commercial organisations.
- Offices
- Warehouses
- Care homes
- Schools
- Laboratories
Occupied buildings need the work planned around the people using them. Fire stopping at Fosse Way View Care Home
“Firstly I just wish to say thank you once again for the good works you carried out at Bingham and that it was much appreciated. The works have been inspected by an independent fire risk assessor who stated in his report that at ground and first floor level all areas above the ceiling were inspected and with minor exceptions the standard of fire stopping was excellent.”
Site manager, Fosse Way View Care Home, Bingham, Nottinghamshire (fire stopping by Aran Fire Protection)
Next step
Book a fire stopping survey
Fire stopping is not quoted from a price list. A survey of the building, using your fire strategy drawings where you have them, shows where work is needed, and the quotation is based on what it finds.
Talk to us about fire stopping for your building
Book a fire stopping surveyCall 01223 566 599Commercial buildings only
Frequently asked questions
Fire stopping is the sealing of openings and gaps in fire-resisting walls and floors, such as where pipes, cables and ducts pass through, so that fire and smoke cannot spread from one compartment of a building to the next.
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