Whether you have just become a building manager for a building or it’s been with you for decades, even brand new buildings will all benefit from regular fire safety health checks.
These checks are referred to as a Building MOT, which helps maintain and prolong a safe and compliant building lifecycle, driving high standards for life safety for all its occupants and the community.
Regular checking for room modifications, including tenant adaptations, upgrades to servers and services within the existing structure, which would impact the integrity of the building compartmentation and passive fire protection measures, will help ensure building compliance.
What is a "Building MOT"?
A building MOT, similar to a vehicle MOT, is a health check for the building. It identifies any risks in your passive fire protection to ensure your structure remains life-safety compliant.
Unlike active fire systems such as sprinklers or alarms, passive fire protection works silently in the background. It's built into your walls, floors, fire doors and service penetrations. When it fails, it often fails invisibly, until a fire reveals the consequences.
Why Your Building May Already Be at Risk
Even a brand-new building can develop passive fire protection deficiencies over time. The most common cause? Changes to the building, its occupants and the services running through it.
Service Penetrations
Cables, pipes and ductwork installed through walls and floors are one of the most common sources of fire-stopping defects.
Gaps left unsealed or filled with non-rated materials immediately compromise compartmentation.
Wall and Floor Junctions
Poorly detailed junctions between fire-rated walls and floors often go unnoticed, especially where finishes conceal the construction.
General building movement over time can impact these areas, increasing the potential speed of the spread of fire through the building.
Voids and Risers
Ceiling voids, service risers and shafts frequently contain undocumented penetrations.
These areas are rarely inspected after construction or refurbishment and require ongoing maintenance to ensure their fire protection integrity.
Escape routes
Fire-resisting glazing, fire doors and partitions along means of escape are regularly damaged, altered or held open, reducing their effectiveness during a fire.
Why Tenant and Occupant Modifications Are a Hidden Danger
Buildings evolve. Tenants adapt spaces, businesses grow, and services are upgraded. Each change carries the potential to unknowingly damage or bypass your existing fire protection.
Tenant Adaptations
Any tenant adaptations may damage existing fire-stopping protections. Changes to building layout, adding mezzanine levels or additional rooms would require assessment and sufficient protection.
Changes of building use should also be considered, including the storage of combustible materials. Upgrading active fire protection systems, adding sprinkler systems, wired-in detectors, etc., can all change the effectiveness of the existing building’s fire protection.
Server & IT Infrastructure Upgrades
Server rooms require specific ventilation and fire precautions, changes to these could lead to compliance breaches.
Adding new networking cables, upgrading or installing new distribution boards, sockets, etc., may involve penetrations through existing fire-rated walls/floors. These would require localised fire-proofing or a full compartmentation survey of the building to identify gaps.
General Building Services
Changing floor layouts, adding new compartments, doors, etc., will require a review of fire strategy, risk assessment and escape routes.
Along with adding new restrooms, kitchen areas, windows and anything that breaks through an existing wall. With these additions, the floor or ceiling is likely to affect the integrity of any existing fire protection products or compartmentation.
Every compartment penetrated by services, such as pipes, cables, ductwork and structural joints, must have those penetrations correctly sealed, if not, the compartment is no longer a barrier.
Who is Responsible?
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places responsibility on ‘The Responsible Person’ to ensure fire safety measures are maintained.
In large buildings, this includes ensuring fire-stopping remains intact after alterations or additional service installations.
The Responsible Person could be the Building Owner, Landlord, Managing agent, i.e. Facilities Manager, the Business Owner or Occupier.
What a Building Compartmentation MOT Should Cover
|
Area |
What to Check |
|---|---|
|
Services and joints |
Click on this text to edit it. |
|
Fire doors |
Adequate installation/fitting/closure |
|
Floor slab edges & wall to floor junctions |
Checking for gaps |
|
Penetrations between stories/levels |
Checking for gaps |
|
Liftshafts and stair cores |
Checking for gaps |
|
Fire curtains/cavity barriers |
Integrity/damage |
|
Existing/legacy fire protection installation |
Integrity/damage |
|
Intumescent paint to steelwork |
Integrity/damage |
What Triggers the Need for a Building Compartmentation MOT?
Any of the following will warrant a building compartmentation MOT:
Any modification to the structure of the building
Any modification to the building layout
Damage to the building fabric, internal walls and/or existing fire protection measures
Upgrades to services
Changes to building occupants/usage
Or annually, whichever comes first
If you are unsure about whether your building needs one, get in touch with our experts at GRJ Surveying.
The Regulatory & Liability Angle
Building Regulations - Approved Document B
Approved Document B sets out fire safety requirements for buildings, including compartmentation and fire resistance periods.
Large and tall buildings often fall into higher-risk categories, requiring enhanced fire protection measures and stricter oversight.
BS EN Testing Standards
Fire-stopping systems are tested under standards such as BS EN 1366. These tests assess integrity and insulation performance over defined periods.
Only systems tested in representative configurations should be used.
Book Your Building Compartmentation MOT with GRJ Surveying
Don't wait for a modification, an incident, or a compliance audit to reveal the gaps in your building's passive fire protection. A proactive fire compartmentation survey from GRJ Surveying gives you a clear picture of where your building stands and what needs to be done to keep its occupants safe.
Contact GRJ Surveying today to arrange your Building compartmentation MOT or to discuss your fire safety requirements with a member of our team.
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