June 16, 2022 by Sharron Halpert  If you want to know a key thing to avoid in order to get this firestop stuff right, this will help. The piece was written for ASPE, but even if you arent a plumbing engineer, the lesson here is valuable for all MEPS trades. Check it out here and let me know what you think.https://www.aspe.org/pipeline/june-2022-lessons-in-firestop-goldilocks-the-horror-story/  The post Goldilocks—The Horror Story  appeared first on Halpert Life Safety Consulting ..read more

Take a look at the conduits through this wall.  Some are spaced apart but on the left you see three that are fairly close together.   I was in a class one time, and someone asked me to define how close penetrants are allowed to be. A question like that is unanswerable. The code doesn’t have any limitation to how close conduits can be. If there is a sliver of drywall between them, technically you can say they are separate penetrations… right?  We will get back to that, but before we do, please know that my understanding is that when assemblies are tested in the lab they are ..read more

Next week we will launch into a discussion about T ratings for drains but I want to bring this to your attention here to give you something to think about.   The discussion about T ratings has evolved over the years. The legacy code (before the 2000IBC) had a requirement for T ratings, so this has been an overlooked code issue for as long as I have been in the industry (I started in 1999).   If you are working with the 2015 or later codes, you will see in the discussion about membrane penetrations through horizontal assemblies this code language. It will basically say that ..read more

Last week I walked you through an electrical room and we have been talking about all the different things that have come up. We are going to continue this week.   When a length of conduit is run through the floor, my understanding is that white bushing is there to prevent damage to the cable when they pull them through.   What I don’t understand is why it needs to stand proud of the bottom surface of the floor. Can anyone help me with that? Curious minds want to know.   Often people say that the conduit that you see here needs to be firestopped. When I hear that ..read more

Okay so this kinda stuff always make me worried. SOMEONE did what they thought should be done, and they figure their job is done… The problem is, someone else’s job is not done and they are going to have to mess with this installation before the project is finished.   This is where I absolutely love several of the different firestop manufacturers products. 3M, STI, Hilti and Tenmat have these muffins you can pop in the conduit then the person who runs the cables can remove it, run the cables and pop the muffin back in place. STI has a really cool product too that clamps on to the end ..read more

If you saw the video on Monday, did the yellow foam in the conduit bother you? It should!. If you are working on a project with fire rated floors or walls, please stop using this stuff.   This stuff is not just combustible but the toxic fumes it puts off when it burns. UGH.   Now some of you will say, oh the yellow is horrible, but we can use the orange or the pink.  I will say if you were building my home, that would be a Loud Firm NO.   If you know me, you know I could go on a whole rant about this but I will save you from that here. If you want to know more you can go to ..read more

Okay so before we talk about firestop I have to throw this out here.   THIS  my  friends is NOT a garbage can.  Please be respectful of the others on your side. If you throw trash in here the electricians can pull their cables the same way.   I heard on one project of a pipe that was pressurized and because someone put a plastic pop/soda bottle in the open end of a pipe rather than in the trash, the plastic bottle acted like a rocket inside the pressurized pipe. It had a bit of a run to pick up momentum and then when it hit an elbow it blew out the pipe.  ..read more

Here is a video sent to me by a guy in the field. I don’t recall if he was okay with me mentioning his name or not so I guess I won’t. If this was you and you want credit- by ALL MEANS jump in and THANK YOU for sharing this so we can have this discussion.   We are about to enter an electrical room and we will be talking about a whole array of topics.    I will be talking about this short video for the next TWO WEEKS. Your challenge- watch this video and comment on all the things you see that could be a challenge from a firestop perspective. I will make my comments thro ..read more

If you found this weeks topics useful, I want to invite you to learn more about fire rated joints. We have a training that talks about the common problems with firestop sealants and how to identify them, we talk about mineral wool so you understand even more of the installation errors. You probably know that mineral wool and sealants are not the only solutions for fire rated joints, so we also go over the five rules for firestop spray, more information about mineral wool as well as introduce you to some of our favorite firestop devices and we show you how to do a solid QAQC review so you will ..read more

I was plodding through my emails and twice in five emails I found grammatical mistakes. One was “Do your team…..blah blah?” Then there was “I have went from X to Y…” I literally could not keep reading after that. I just deleted the email.   Then I felt like a grammar snob. We have all heard that if you want to market to people, you have to speak on a grade 8 level, and recently I’ve heard its down to an 8 year old level. I am so resistant to assume that those around me are not smarter than this, but I risk sounding like a snob if I use “big words”.   I would love to hear wh ..read more