When it comes to passive fire protection, one of the most important things to keep in mind is the concept of compartmentation. In fact, it’s one of the most fundamental concepts when it comes to first putting a building up. Fire compartmentation is kept in mind during the planning stages of the building, and is kept in mind while the lay out of the building is first being drafted onto the blue print section of things.

The idea is that every building is sectioned off into a series of compartments during the initial creation of the structure. This is done by using a fire resistant material to create a series of compartments. A large space can be split into several rooms. Each room is known as its own compartment. The walls and floor are where the compartments are kept.

When the structure of a building is split into segments like this – compartments – than the fire can easily be contained to one area. The less that a fire spreads through the building, the less damage will occur to the building itself. This will also help prevent the spread of smoke through out the building, and keep the need for repairs down to a minimum.

If the fire is strong enough to spread, it will first have to break through the barriers of fire resistant materials before it can reach other sections of the room. Due to the nature of the fire compartmentation, this will be a very difficult feat for the blaze itself. This will severely slow the fire’s spread down, and can provide the response team with the vital chance to put the fire out before severe damage can be done.

Fire follows the path of least resistance. Walls that haven’t been turned into compartments or large open spaces are the perfect ‘breeding’ ground so to speak for flames to continue burning. That’s why it’s so important for these fire compartments to be put into the building during the initial construction. These are not the same as fire resisting ductwork, but it is in the same vein of fire prevention.

This form of fire prevention is what’s known as passive fire protection. Passive fire protection is one of the most important forms of protection when it comes to buildings.

Passive fire protection is any means of fire protection that is put into the building at the time of building. It exists due to the construction of the building and isn’t needed to be actively maintained, up kept, or changed. You can look into buying other means of passive fire protection, such as fire shutters and fire doors, but the most important pieces of fire compartmentation come from the initial building.

By putting compartments into the walls and floors of the building, you are naturally helping prevent the fire from causing severe destruction to the building, and providing yourself with more protection and less chance of being liable to damage caused by flames and blazes.

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