Firestopping (Division 7)

Fire and Smoke Protection

579 Construction has a dedicated crew of STI Certified Firestop installers.

Code enforcement is rapidly changing in this important Life-Safety scope, and we are equipped to guide our clients through the stringent firestop requirements for medical facilities, schools and office buildings.

We are also experts in the installation of weather, vapor and air barriers, as well as rigid and batt insulation. 579 provides code compliance and peace of mind when it comes to thermal and fire protection.

What is a Firestop?

Firestop options can make any building — new or existing — safer for tenants while also limiting property loss from a fire. Proper firestop and smoke seal of fire-rated walls, floors and ceilings, as well as penetrating items through rated walls, helps extend the time to safely evacuate a building in case of fire. Maintaining proper fire and smoke barriers also reduces fire and smoke damage.

A firestop is a fire protection system that seals the cracks and crevices of a space with fire-proof material to keep a fire from spreading between rooms. This is a crucial step in ensuring fire and smoke from spreading through multiple spaces quickly.

For sealing around pipes, tubing, and duct work, you want to use Penetration Sealants that can hold a fire off for two to four hours. Joint Sealants are used to caulk the spaces between wall boards. They are intumescent, meaning the sealant swells up when fire is near or touching it, thus preventing the fire from getting through the cracks and spreading even further.