When the construction industry comes to mind you might think strong or steadfast, but the word innovation rarely springs to mind. Whilst there are countless industries that are coming forward in leaps and bounds, for the most part, the construction industry apparently doesn’t match the trend, even more so in the passive fire industry.

With passive fire supposedly now accounting for around 2 – 4% of a building’s construction, and figures at around 30 – 40% of all litigation in construction, it’s not just an add on to a trade anymore.

The passive fire industry has been pushing to remind building managers of the importance of passive fire compliance for some time now, and yet even with the legal requirements this often is misunderstood or ignored.

Recently we took part in a build and burn demonstration at Resolute Laboratories, where we ran a simulated AS1530.4 fire test. It was fantastic to see firsthand what kicks in to protect property in a fire from some of the most commonly seen passive fire products.

In lieu of recent tragedies, a spotlight has again been shone on fire safety compliance both in passive fire and active fire. However, regardless of this, you may have seen that the QBCC have stepped up concentrated audits as of the 1st of July this year. It has been announced that where breaches are identified, prosecution or action will be taken on the building certifiers.

In our opinion, it’s the open penetrations that we see in way too many places, sometimes get scared to open up a service cupboard. Our concern are blatant open holes that are not even treated, for example like the one above open floor penetration in a riser.

It’s crucial that fire safe compliance be better executed across all systems including Party Walls, the walls that are shared between two or more dwellings, most common in class 1a apartments, terraces, and town houses. Party walls create a barrier between containment zones which limits the spread of smoke and fire.

We've been carrying out a series of training sessions on basic passive fire awareness with builders who want their on site team to have a better understanding of what passive fire certifiers are looking for to certify the fire walls and ceilings, and penetrations. The sessions have provoked much discussion, questions and fun banter from the construction manager through to the on site tradies.

Our co-founder Peter recently spoke at the Fire Protection Association conference in Sydney on the topic of ‘What’s changing in Passive Fire’. The conference touched on many issues that are providing challenges in the passive fire industry - some of which are being addressed, and many which are not.

The current Draft Queensland Building Plan proposes that Building Certifiers perform mandatory inspections on fire rated party walls in Class 1a buildings (townhouses, duplex). This review is an acknowledgment that the industry is currently doing this badly and sadly we fully agree.

A tragedy in South Australia highlighted the fact that in the building industry, each specialist area tends to communicate to its own very limited field of participants and not to the broader group of consultants, contractors and other professionals. In this case, the Coroner made comments in relation to the way in which different participants in the building industry communicate or, rather, fail to communicate well.

Does your fitout guide sufficiently cover everything to ensure Passive Fire compliance?Most fitout guides may mention penetrations but rarely a path of pre-approval and compliance.

As certifiers we see so many non complying passive fire penetrations that are defective and require reworks or in some cases pull out and start again. This lack of planning is costing the construction industry unnecessarily.