AF Protection Ltd

Complete Passive Fire Protection Solutions

AF Protection Limited are a specialised company based in the South West that provide complete and comprehensive passive fire protection solutions to all aspects of life safety. We provide all applications of passive fire protection including fire stopping & penetration sealing, structural steel encasement, and fire door installs and upgrades. With projects extending across Southern England ranging from new build projects to refurbishment and general improvement works, AF Protection deliver excellent quality in a professional manner and at a competitive price.

We are accredited members of FIRAS (a third-party accreditation company for passive fire protection) which means that every passive fire protection application installed is completed to a scrutinised standard and certified upon completion. The management team behind AF Protection Ltd. have over fifty years experience working in the construction industry, of which 35 years have been specialised in passive fire protection. We combine these expertise to provide an outstanding level of service that we are proud to present to our clients.

Fire Regulations

There is an ever more increasing emphasis on fire risk within new and retrofit projects across the UK. While fire detection and extinguishing systems play an important role, it is also just as essential to ensure adequate fire containment within a building to allow safe evacuation of occupants, prevention of fire spread to other buildings, and enable access for firefighting personnel. In the wake of recent national events, fire safety has come under extreme scrutiny (BBC 13/11/2017) and there has been calls from bodies such as the London Fire Brigade for increased attention to competent and certifiable fire prevention, detection and containment across the country.

Standards have been set as outlined in Building Regulations Part B (Fire Safety), and its associated Approved Documents as issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government, which ensures that building design now make adequate provisions for fire safety throughout the construction process. Specifically, the requirements of Parts B2 and B3 of the aforementioned documentation state that the "building shall be designed and constructed so that, in the event of fire, its stability will be maintained for a reasonable period" (Approved Document B, 2010). This applies to the building's structural components as well as its internal linings, including fire walls and compartments and any "hidden voids" (cavities).

These regulations and requirements are becoming ever more imperative on construction and refurbishment projects, and the need for competent and certified installers has grown with it. By using accredited specialists to undertake passive fire protection applications, contractors can be assured that work has been completed to the correct standard. Ross Newman (2016) wrote for International Fire Protection Magazine highlighting the importance of this process in his article, "The role of the passive fire protection installer".

Sources:
Building fire safety 'must improve', London Fire Brigade warns, BBC, 13/11/2017, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-419648...
Post Grenfell Fire Safety skills crisis exposed by Brigade, London Fire Brigade, 13/11/2017, http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/news/LatestNewsRelea...
Department for Communities and Local Government (2010), Fire Safety: Approved Document B, Approved Documents and Building Regulations, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-sa...
Newman, Ross (2016), The Role of the Passive Fire Protection Installer, IFP Magazine, http://ifpmag.mdmpublishing.com/the-role-of-the-pa...