GL AS S & GL AS S PROCE S S ING
Fire safety glazing – don’t just swap it
Andy Lake, UK projects director at Pyroguard, says that while retrofit
projects are a burgeoning market for glass installers, they are not without
their challenges, with the potential for a building’s passive fire protection to
be compromised if approached incorrectly.
As budgets within the construction
industry tighten, the retrofit and
refurbishment markets are predicted
to be a growing source of work for
glazing installers. When it comes to fire safety
glass, retrofit projects can present various
different situations.
To demonstrate, a project could involve
replacing traditional wire fire glass with modern,
more aesthetically-pleasing fire glass; for older
buildings, upgrading single glazing to double
glazing, contributing towards both improved
energy efficiency and fire safety; or making an old
glazing system fire-safe, with the installation of
fire safety glass.
While such projects may, on the surface, seem
straightforward, it is imperative that they are
approached correctly and with the right technical
knowledge and understanding. Simply swapping
old glass for fire safety glass, without considering
the frame or its accompanying components, for
example, could lead to severe consequences.
With this in mind, the first thing to be
aware of is that fire safety glass should not be
treated as a standalone product – a common,
and dangerous, misconception that remains
within the construction, glazing and fire safety
industries. Instead, fire safety glass is just one
element in a wider fire safety system, performing
in conjunction with other components to deliver
the required level of fire protection.
Take fire doors, for example. While a fire
door may be present within a building, this does
not automatically guarantee its performance in
the event of a fire. According to recent figures
released by the Fire Door Inspection Scheme
(FDIS), „6% of fire doors inspected during ‡ˆ‰Š
were declared unfit for purpose. This could be
due to numerous reasons, from the door being
installed incorrectly or issues around smoke
sealing and intumescent strips to poorly adjusted
door closers. Evidently, there are multiple factors
that make up its fire protection – the door itself is
just one part.
This idea of taking a system approach to the
specification and testing of building products
was strongly advocated for in Dame Judith
Hackitt’s review into UK Building Regulations
and Fire Safety, where she spoke of the
importance of evaluating how products will
perform together once installed, throughout
the building’s life. From a fire safety glass
perspective, this means considering, and testing,
the glass as part of a total system, including the
glass, frame, intumescent strips and any other
components.
Practically speaking, you may be working
on a retrofit project where ordinary window
glazing, with a standard aluminium frame, is
to be replaced with fire safety glass. Simply
replacing the old glass with fire safety glass
will not necessarily result in the creation of
a fire rated system – and it would be wrong
to assume otherwise. For example, a nonfire
rated aluminium window frame, without
cooling inserts, could melt in the event of a
fire, rendering the new fire safety glass useless.
Simple steel frames that haven’t been fire-rated
or timber frames – where the wood density is too
low or the sections too narrow – could lead to a
similar outcome.
So, what should installers do? On any retrofit
project, the first step is to identify exactly what
type of frame is currently installed within the
building. Once you have this information, speak
to your fire glass manufacturer or supplier,
who will then be able to offer tailored technical
advice.
Often, existing fire test evidence can be used
to evaluate the current frame, its suitability
and ensure the correct fire glass product is
installed, depending on the classification and
level of performance required. Depending
on the project size and complexity, new test
evidence may be required in order to determine
the frame’s suitability. Alternatively, it may be
both safer and more cost-effective to replace
the glass and frame with a fully fire tested and
approved system. Either way, your manufacturer
or supplier will be able to provide guidance
and, whichever approach is taken, you can be
confident that a fire-safe system is constructed
and the building and its occupants are protected.
Understanding that fire safety glass is just
one component in a wider fire-safe system, as
opposed to being a standalone product, is one
of the first steps to ensuring retrofit projects are
approached correctly. Indeed, while they may
initially seem straightforward, stopping and
seeking technical guidance and test evidence
from your supplier is key.
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