Fire stopping in Watford

Pipes, cables and ducts cut holes in fire walls. We find them, seal them and label each seal.

Open a service cupboard and look at the back wall.

Pipes go through it. Maybe cables. Round each one there is a gap.

Take a made-up cupboard on floor 3 of a four-storey block. Concrete floor, 60 minutes. A 110mm plastic soil pipe goes up through the slab. Beside it a 32mm waste. Beside that a bundle of data cable, cut off and taped. Round the soil pipe, old mortar with a crack in it. Round the cable, nothing, and you can see the ceiling of the flat below.

The soil pipe gets a collar on the underside of the slab, four screws into the concrete. The waste gets a smaller one. The cable stubs are cleared, a coated batt is cut to fit the hole, and mastic goes round its edge.

Label on each. Photo of each. One line in the record: riser 2, floor 3 to 4, cable bundle, batt and mastic, 60 min, photo 14.

Do that for every riser on every floor and you have a job.

White coated boards fitted around cable trays in a large opening

What we do

Most people start with a compartmentation survey. Someone walks the building with a camera and a plan. Then the sealing: penetration sealing for pipes, cables, trays and ducts, collars and wraps for plastic pipes, cavity barriers for roof voids and ceiling spaces, intumescent mastic for joints and small gaps. Our BM TRADA / FIRAS-certificated contractors do it and we stay in charge.

A photo of every seal, a label on each one and a list saying where they are. Put the list with your fire safety records.

Who calls us

Managing agents with a block of flats and a fire risk assessment that mentions gaps in compartmentation. Landlords whose insurer has asked for proof the building is sealed. Schools and offices, after a new cable run or a refit.

Most of our recent work has been on fire doors. We repaired 140 doors across Luton schools and an almshouse, and we surveyed 129 doors in a Reading hotel. That is why we notice the gaps round a door frame as well.

A cable tray and a conduit running along the head of a blockwork wall under a concrete slab

A rough idea of price

Fire stopping jobs usually start at around £2,000 plus VAT. Three seals in one cupboard will not fill a day, while a riser stack or a floor of corridors will. You get a written price before any work starts.

Questions we get asked

Do I need a survey before you seal anything?

If you already have a survey or a fire risk assessment listing the gaps, send it over and we will price from that. If you don't, a survey comes first.

Is this the same as a fire risk assessment?

No. An assessor looks at the whole building. Fire stopping is the physical repair to the walls and floors. One may well lead to the other.

Can you work in an occupied building?

Yes. Most risers can be sealed without anyone leaving. We tell you which areas we need to reach.

What we seal

Cavity barriersBarriers fitted or repaired in roof voids and above ceilings so a hidden space cannot carry fire.Compartmentation surveyEvery gap in the fire lines of the building found, photographed and logged.Fire collars and wrapsCollars and wraps on plastic waste and water pipes where they pass through fire walls and floors.Intumescent masticFire rated mastic for joints, edges and small gaps where a batt will not fit.Penetration sealingSeals round pipes, cables, trays and ducts where they pass through fire walls and floors.

Where we go

These are the places around Watford we travel to. We come from Luton, so we plan each visit as a full day on site.

Straight answers

Found a hole in a fire wall?

Send us the postcode and a photo or two. We will tell you what it needs and give you a price.

Get a price