What is passive fire stopping, and how does training in passive fire stopping benefit contractors?
Our fire-stopping training expert Dave Steel, trains hundreds of delegates each year in the practical and theoretical elements of passive fire stopping.
Who is passive fire stopping training relevant for?
Trainees come from a variety of roles and backgrounds as there are many types of contractors who are responsible for elements of passive fire stopping including specialist passive fire protection contractors, and those who may need to carry out work retrospectively in an area that has already been compartmentalised and needs to be resealed such as mechanical and electrical engineers.
Having the capability to assess and install the correct passive fire stopping products using the correct methods is an essential skill for everybody on a construction site.
Most of the training takes place at the PAL Centre of Excellence in Tring, Hertfordshire, however, we do sometimes send Dave out on the road if there are enough people in an organisation that need training in one go.
We’ve compiled a few of Dave’s top tips for passive fire stopping, to help give you an understanding of what it is, and what’s involved to help inform your decision about whether you would benefit from our passive fire stopping training course.
What is passive fire stopping?
Passive fire stopping is a collection of crucial practices that aims to compartmentalise buildings so that there is minimised spread in the event of a fire. Successful passive fire stopping slows the spread of fire, buying the people in it more time to evacuate to safety, and the fire services more time to respond and put it out to avoid further damage.
Passive fire protection safeguards lives and assets and is a crucial component of any fire strategy.
What should a good passive fire protection system do?
A good passive fire protection system safeguards buildings, their contents, and the people in them in several ways.
- Stops the spread of smoke and poisonous fumes.
- Stops the spread of flames by closing off easily penetrable pathways through the building.
- Maintains the structural stability of the building.
- Contains thermal effects.
Top Tips and video demonstrations of best practice fire stopping installations
Our passive fire stopping training is offered in partnership with Nullifire, so our demonstrations are specific to the Nullifire brand of products. Here is just a taster for the practical skills and understanding you will gain on our practical fire stopping course.
Tip 1 – Cutting your Intubatt FB750
- Measure your compartment and use a safe blade to make your cuts.
- Check for any coning on your annular cuts to Intubatt.
- Try to keep the knife straight and don’t angle it.
- Always check and rectify where necessary.
Tip 2 – Getting the right mastic coverage on your batt
- Make sure you get enough mastic coverage. If using Nullifire Intubatt, remember, “white is right, green can’t be seen.”
- Allow dry joints between two batts – use mastic.
- Don’t use grey or white mastic directly only orange CPVC pipes – Nullifire offer a special BLUE HP mastic called FS719.
Find out more about FS719 HP Blue Mastic.
Tip 3 – Fitting your batt
- Make sure you fit your Intubatt under compression.
- It should not be easy to push out from the void.
Tip 4 – Protection and seals for pipework and penetrations
- Fix pipe collars at every available point that they offer to keep them secure.
There is plenty more to know about passive fire stopping and our intense one-day training course approved by 
provides you with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to successfully identify and install safe and compliant passive-fire protection solutions on site.
Find out more about the training course and book a place: here.