Passive fire protection (PFP) is an integral part of the three components of structural fire protection and fire safety in buildings.
The aim of PFP is to attempt to contain fires or slow the spread, through the use of fire-resistant walls, floors and doors as well as other areas.
When using PSP, there are many regulations and rules to be adhered to, but all are a necessity as unfortunately fire can not only wreck buildings, but it can also wreck lives as well.
PSP measures are intended to contain a fire at its origin and this limits the spread of fire and smoke for a limited period of time.
Firestops, fire walls and fire doors are tested to determine the fire-resistance rating of the final assembly, usually expressed in terms of hours of fire resistance.
There are mainly two types of PFP; intumescent fire protection and vermiculite fire protection and this can be described as a group of systems within one system.
Airtight is a key to all PFP installations are seal for air passage to. No air no fuel for fire.
One of the country’s leading passive fire protection companies is the subject of this month’s edition of Building Ireland.
Galway based K&L Fire Protection offer their range of services to customers in the commercial, residential and industrial sectors and since being established in February, 2009, the company has gone from strength to strength as the customer base grows steadily.
K&L was established by Kenneth Masterson and Lucas Nagrodzki with both men having years of experience in the industry before deciding to set up business together.
Lucas told us about the services that they provide and revealed that they have a lot of repeat custom.
Having set the business up, just as the Celtic Tiger’s roar became a distant whimper, Lucas admitted that it was tough at the start.
“It was very tough at first and we wondered had we made the right decision, but we kept at it and I do feel that the company is stronger for having come through those sort of times.”
K&L offer a total passive fireproofing service and that includes fire-resistance rated partitions, firewalls, occupancy separations, closures, cable coatings, fireproof to cladding, upgrade of fire resistance rated floors and fire doors.
Starting off on small jobs, Kenneth and Lucas persevered and their reputation for providing a quality service began to grow as word of mouth lead them from one project to another.
“From the outset, we knew the type of service that we wanted to provide. We had the experience in passive fire protection and once we broke into the public sector, the business started to grow. The quality of work that we produce, on time and within budget, is always our guiding principle.
“No job is too big or small and we would cover any contract size and all of our work is fully certified and complies with or exceeds current Irish building regulations.”
K&L keeping photographic evidence with tagging systems to allocate each installation on drawings to provide complex and very detailed “Handover-file”
K&L have been involved in many large fire proofing projects including Knock Basilica in Mayo, New Engineering Block, NUI Galway, Merit Medical, Galway, Indoor Sports Arena, Athlone IT, Clinical Research Facility, University Hospital Galway, UL Pavilion, Limerick, McDonald, Dublin, Citywest Shopping Centre.
Nothing but the best of materials are used by K&L as the utilise the leading fire protection brands in their work covering a wide range of products including coated batts, intumescent mastics and paints fire-rated compound, fire collars, fire wraps, etc.
“We deal with all the leading international brands like Nullfire, Envirograf, Hilti, Rockwool, Doras, Promat, Lamatherm and Corofil. Only the best products are used.”
Lucas revealed that there is full traceability on all their projects as to ensure that their work is done to the highest standard possible.
“We would keep a full photographic record of our fire protection work for contract, insurance and historical purposes. We can provide photographic examples of the various types and instances of fire proofing that we can supply and have installed on many different building contracts. Each project would have an ID number and we would have a handover file when we are completed. A lot of planning goes into each job that we do.”
Kenneth and Lucas are committed to providing a top quality service to their ever increasing customer base.
“We have always delivered on our promises and the list of contracts that we have completed over the years are proof of that.”
From their offices on Oranmore, Co Galway K&L are very much a nationwide company and with their team of experienced technicians they can work on a number of projects at any given time.
Contact Details:
K&L Fire Protection
17 Lisroe,
Bog Road,
Oranmore,
Co Galway
Tel: 0871206385 or 0870619223
e-mail: [email protected]
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, November/December 2016, Vol 2 No 7
