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A 'firestop' is a passive fire protection system of various components used to seal openings in fire-resistance rated wall and/or floor assemblies through bounding, which is based on elaborate fire testing as well as environmental testing, in some cases.
Unprotected or unbounded openings in fire separations void the fire-resistance ratings of the fire separations that contain them and thus, both in practical and legal terms, collapse the fire compartments of which these fire separations form a part, which affects the fire safety plan of the entire building. Firestops are specifically designed to restore the fire-resistance ratings of rated wall and/or floor assemblies by bounding the openings through approved firestops.

Contents

Opening types

Trade jurisdiction

Materials

Ratings

Compatibility

Common Problems and Solutions

No firestop at all

"Deemed-to-comply"

Right products, wrong installation

Improper, unenforced specification and trade jurisdiction

Re-entry

Tagging

Testing and certification

Regulations and compliance

Trade associations

See also

External links

Opening types

★ Electrical through-penetrations

★ Mechanical through-penetrations

★ Structural through-penetrations

★ Unpenetrated openings (e.g. openings for future use)

★ Re-entries of existing firestops

★ Control or sway joints within fire-resistance rated wall or floor assemblies

★ Junctions between fire-resistance rated wall or floor assemblies

★ "Head-of-wall" (HOW) joints, where non-loadbearing wall assemblies meet floor assemblies

This is a typical drawing intended to accompany a firestop specification Section 07840. Its purpose is to show trade responsibility and to indicate which trade does what when it comes to sealing mechanical, electrical and structural through-penetrations in noncombustible wall and floor assemblies required to have a fire-resistance rating.

This is a typical drawing intended to accompany a firestop specification Section 07840. Its purpose is to show trade responsibility and to indicate which trade does what when it comes to sealing mechanical, electrical and structural through-penetrations in drywall assemblies required to have a fire-resistance rating.