Hilti Cast In Place Firestop
Hilti Cast In Place Firestop
In multi-story commercial structures, the safety of the building occupants is one of the primary concerns in the planning, construction, and operation of the structure. One aspect of safety is fire safety. A commercial structure has active fire systems such as smoke detectors, auto-release fire doors, and sprinkler systems. There are many passive fire systems as well, one of them being the sealing of penetrations (firestop) between rooms and floors.
The compartmentalization of a building helps to isolate a fire long enough to either A.) give enough time to get the fire under control or B.) give the building occupants enough time to evacuate. A big part of this compartmentalization is sealing off the large pipes that travel between floors. Think of water supply, sprinkler supply, waste pipe, storm water pipe, steam pipe, etc. Big pipe of the 8″ and 10″ plastic and metal variety.
Previous solutions involve pouring in a sleeve or core drilling for the pipe, fitting the pipe, and then fitting on an intumescent firestop collar on one or both sides of the penetration. An intumescent collar is a pipe collar that swells in the presence of heat. So in the event of a fire, the penetration is sealed so that the fire can’t travel between building compartments. Fitting a firestop collar can take quite a bit of time. Check out the video below of how involved a process it can be.
There’s A Better Way
Hilti is looking to change this process for the better. They want to make it cheaper and faster to install. They’ve created a new product that’s cast-in-place for large vertical pipe that’s so simple to install yet very effective in sealing off penetrations in the event of a fire. Other companies have cast in place firestop solutions for smaller pipe but Hilti is the only one making it for the large pipe. It comes in multiple heights (6″-14″) for plastic and metal pipe. What used to take 5 to 10 minutes per pipe penetration can now be installed by one laborer in under a minute.
Heights from 14″ to 6″ in 2″ increments
Many buildings today are fully rendered in 3D with all of the building systems in place long before the first scoop of dirt is ever moved. These BIM (Building Information Models) renders show where every vertical penetration is ahead of time so that these cast in place firestop collars can be fastened to the concrete forms well in advance of the pipe being installed. It is so simple and it makes so much sense, good job Hilti!
Cast In Place Firestop Technical Information
About the author
Jeff Williams
Contributing Editor Jeff Williams is a carpenter for a commercial General Contractor specializing in concrete, steel, and wood buildings. Jeff comes from a long line of contractors. His parents started a commercial General Contracting firm many years ago and it has afforded him life-long, hands-on learning opportunities from rough and fine carpentry all the way to structural steel and concrete. Jeff has a Construction Management degree and loves the thrill of coordinating and successfully managing large jobs from start to finish. Inspired by the difficulties sometimes encountered to complete punch lists his motto is, "Work hard until the job is done."
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