What is a Passive Fire Protection System?

Whether it’s a small apartment in a high-rise/low-rise building or a shopping mall or a commercial building, the lives of people are always at stake in case of a fire accident. So, it’s the duty of the building developers, mall managers, and business owners to take appropriate fire safety measures and ensure the safety of the occupants.

It’s important to have proper fire protection components in buildings. So, along with active fire protection, having a passive fire protection component is also important. However, if the two components are clubbed together, it would suppress and stop the fire from spreading. Thus, allowing people to get evacuated to safety and minimizing the damage to various assets.

What is Passive Fire Protection?

Most of you must be wondering what this passive fire protection system is all about, isn’t it?

Well, it is also referred to as Built Fire Protection, is an important element of a fire safety strategy. Well, it can include a wide range of practices and products; however, the products should be used in the building structures for containing the fire within the building.

PFP plays a crucial role in stopping the fire and smoke from spreading further. So it reduces severity, safeguards people and minimizes damage to the buildings and their contents. The aim of installing a passive fire protection component is twofold. Firstly, to make buildings safe for the evacuation process. Secondly, by preventing the fire from turning into a serious threat. PFP components are usually installed during building construction. This allows a building to be divided into fire compartments.

Passive fire products are made to pass through rigorous testing under extreme fires.

Components of Passive Fire Protection System

Just like it’s important to know what is passive fire protection, in the same manner, it’s important to know about the components of it.

• Compartmentation: It includes firewalls, fire barriers, fire partitions, and smoke barriers. With the help of fire barriers, such as fire-rated walls, floors, and even ceilings, the spread of fire in a building gets limited. Also, extended walls from the fire rate floors to ceilings offer full protection. The use of smoke barriers helps to limit the movement of smoke.
• Opening Protection: It includes fire doors and windows that must be installed right at the opening of a fire barrier to make it resistant to fire. Additionally, involves smoke and fire dampers.
• Structural Fire Protection: This is important to answer what is PFP system. This helps to guard the important structural components of a building from fire. It includes fire-proof materials.

Benefits

Well, PFP is a crucial component of a fire safety strategy. So buildings, be it a high-rise or a low-rise should implement a PFP system.

The benefits of using passive fire protection are as follows:

• Limits the financial damage caused by fire
• Save lives
• Give time for building evacuation

For complete fire protection, proper installation and use of active and passive structural systems are important. It would not only reduce the impact of fire but even save lives.