The need for proven fire protection for self-supporting mains gas risers which extended up through 21 storeys led to Promat’s PROMATECT®-L500 board being selected for a residential refurbishment project in Camden, London. Three multi-storey housing blocks on the Ampthill Estate have now been protected by the PROMATECT®-L500 fire protection board, which was used to create a bespoke solution tailored to the individual needs of this project.
“This was a refurbishment job which had some fairly specific requirements that we had to meet,” says Promat’s National Sales Manager, Neville White. “The Fire Officers involved were insistent that the main gas riser feeding each block of flats was either moved to the exterior of the building, or was separated from the main shaft in which it was located. The latter option was taken, and it was decided to compartmentalise the gas mains with a gas-tight, enclosure that would provide 120 minutes of fire resistance.”
Promat devised the fire compartment system for the gas mains, which was constructed from PROMATECT®-L500 boards provided by SIG Technical Insulation Beckton, and installed by Fire Delay Contractors Ltd. Craig Etherington, Sales Office Manager at SIG Technical Insulation Beckton spoke of the challenges in supplying materials for the project:
“We had to make sure that everything was in place ready to be delivered when Fire Delay requested the material. There were quite a few deliveries that were required next day when areas were made available on site. We had to make sure the stock was here at Beckton which meant liaising with Fire Delay on a weekly basis so we could keep up with their requirements and make sure everything was in place.
We had been working on the project with Fire Delay and Promat for a couple of months prior to the delivery to make sure we had everything in place for when it started.”
“The decision was to use 50 x 50 x 3mm steel frames fixed to the brickwork walls and clad with the PROMATECT®-L500,” adds Neville White. “We specified 50mm thick PROMATECT®-L500 board, to which a coat of Decadex was added. Decadex is a tough, elastomeric membrane that ensured that the final compartmentation was gas-tight and so protects the residents in the case of any leakage from the riser.”
“The residents were to remain in their homes with a gas supply provided throughout the installation process,” says Neville. “This meant that the system we devised had to be easy to install in a phased process, but with as little disruption to them as possible. This was made easier by the fact that the board is easy to cut and work with conventional equipment. This also simplified the task of creating access panels in the compartmentation, which were then sealed with a demountable seal to ensure that gas tightness was not compromised.”
