Fire Compartmentalisation Survey

This is an assessment of a building's fire safety features to ensure that smoke, flames, and gases don't spread. The survey's goal is to protect the safety of occupants and prevent extensive losses.

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Why you NEED a Fire Compartmentalisation Survey (FCV)

A fire compartmentation survey is crucial for a number of reasons:

Fire safety compliance: To guarantee adherence to fire safety requirements, building laws frequently call for routine compartmentation surveys.

Enhanced fire safety: A breached compartment may cause a fire to spread more quickly. The survey assists in locating and fixing flaws, improving your building’s fire safety.

Peace of mind: Building owners, managers, and tenants might feel more at ease knowing that the compartments in their building are operating effectively.

Did you know?

An FCV can assist you in recognising any difficulties and taking action before they worsen.

You can make sure your building’s fire compartments work as intended and save lives and property in the event of a fire by taking care of the faults found in the survey.

What does a Fire Compartmentalisation Survey involve?

This survey is an in-depth examination of your building’s fire barriers. The walls, floors, ceilings, and any penetrations - such as pipes or cables - that go through these barriers will all be inspected by surveyors. Finding any flaws that can jeopardise fire compartmentation is their main objective.

What the survey usually includes:

Overall state of the fire compartments: This involves inspecting the walls, floors, and ceilings for damage, gaps, and cracks.

Fire seals: For compartmentation, fire doors and the seals surrounding service penetrations are essential. They will be evaluated and their compliance with fire resistance standards will be confirmed by the survey.

Fire dampers: These are ventilation duct-mounted automated shutters that close when a fire starts to stop the spread of smoke and flames. Their correct installation and operation will be confirmed by the survey.

FCV's check the following are all in working order:

Escape Routes
Doors (including hatches to cupboards, ducts and vertical riser shafts linking floors), lift shafts and stair wells
Walls, floors, ceilings and loft spaces
Cavity barriers, fire stopping and dampers
PEEPS (Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan) Occupancy/residency
Building Use and Risk loading

FCV's give Duty Holders all the information they need

Once the compartmentation survey has been completed, a comprehensive report detailing the surveyor’s findings will be sent.

This report will contain the following information:

Found gaps or vulnerabilities in the compartmentation
Suggestions for maintenance or corrective actions
Any risks or fire hazards found during the survey

We will assess whether these fire safety measures within the building are adequate and comply with the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRFSO)

The RRFSO places legal duties on the Responsible Person to ensure the safety of people in the building they are in control of, in the event of a fire. This includes ensuring that the fire safety provisions are sufficient and retain the ability to resist the passage and spread of fire throughout their lifetime.

However, fire resistance capabilities may be seriously compromised if they have not been installed and maintained by someone who has appropriate knowledge of these complex life safety products e.g. a fire door’s fire resistance performance can be weakened if components such as hardware, glazing and intumescent strips are installed incorrectly or not to specification.

It is therefore essential to make sure your fire safety provisions are inspected by an expert.

Why you should use Protest ES Ltd fire safety experts

Protest ES Ltd fire experts are BRE and BM TRADA certified.

Our DBS checked and qualified technicians will provide assurance that every aspect of your building’s fire doors are functioning in accordance with fire regulations.