Structural Elements of Buildings Need Protection

Any exposed structure made form steel or timber must have sufficient resistance to fire to enable it to maintain its structural integrity for the required period of time. This is normally 30,60,90 or 120 minutes 

Over time timber cladding will become weathered and degraded. The may cause any protective coating to fail creating a spread of flame hazard that could undermine compartmentation or the timber itself may become denatured and dry creating an additional spread of flame pathway

A change of use may require the fitting of new FD30 or FD60 fire rated doors, but a door is only as effective as the wall that surrounds it. Where there is an unknown level of protection intumescent base and top coats can provide an additional 30 minutes protection to plaster and wooden structures.

Lath and Plaster is a historic building material that differs from building to building and across the country. As this is a non-standard substrate achieving an exact classification for fire resistance is not possible, EMC have test evidence upgrading Lath and Plaster and can give guidance on what can reasonable be done to achieve your objectives.

Concrete is a complicated and may require escalation to a specialised structural assessor. Contact EMC to discuss your needs.