Architect's perspective

Magdalena Prus of HKA Global discusses fire protection to structural steelwork.

Fire protection to structural steelwork is crucial to the safety of buildings and their occupants. Whilst structural steelwork has some inherent fire resistance, steel generally loses its strength and stiffness when subjected to high temperatures. Tests have demonstrated that a fully loaded steel beam exposed on all four sides fails at 500°C and a fully loaded steel beam exposed on three sides (where it supports a concrete slab) fails at 620°C. Fire resistance of construction elements is determined in standardised fire test conditions, based on the test method and criteria described in the BS 476 suite of British Standards1 and BS EN 1363-12. Where the steel does not have sufficient (inherent) fire resistance to satisfy the requirements of the Building Regulations, then additional fire protection is required to protect structural steelwork from the effects of fire. Note that the inherent fire resistance of structural steel is dependent on several factors, including the size of the section and loading, and should only be determined by a structural and/or fire engineer.

This article discusses effective fire protection methods for structural steelwork, by reference to the applicable requirements of the Building Regulations. In particular, it focuses on the passive fire protection solutions in the scenario where the structural steelwork interfaces with the compartment wall lines.

As part of the Fire Protection Association's continuing commitment to increase fire safety awareness across the built environment, a number of informative feature articles are available to read on our website. You can read the full article here.