Specify cavity barriers for use in facades, to meet a design

Design & specify | DS020

This activity is about specifying cavity barriers for use in facades, for inclusion in a detailed technical design during RIBA stage 4, to meet a concept design that already exists. This includes identification of product or product manufacturer and interpretation of DIAP / certificated performance

Culture & behaviour

Core abilities

Culture & behaviour
Close X

Effective working behaviours

You must:

  • Work within limits of own capability and know when to seek advice from others
  • Manage own time effectively
  • Work effectively individually and as part of a team
  • Communicate effectively
  • Undertake personal development activities to maintain currency of competence
Culture & behaviour
Close X

Design & specification behaviours

You must:

  • Challenge unsafe behaviours and activities, and report where necessary
  • Work in accordance with quality requirements and challenge where they are not being met
  • Act ethically to ensure safe outcomes
Currency of competence
Close X

Experience specifying cavity barriers for use in facades

You must have:

  • 1 instance of specification of cavity barriers for use in facades
Core abilities
Close X

Impact of product variation in design and specification

You must:

  • Understand the potential impact of product variation on construction system conformance or compliance
  • Understand when product variation may be required
    • Where suitable products cannot be specified based on direct field of application and certificated product performance
  • Know organisational processes to escalate product variation queries
Core abilities
Close X

Selection of construction products

You must:

  • Know how legislation and official guidance relates to the specification of passive fire protection products, and the consequences of non-compliance
  • Understand that buildings work as systems and know the importance of this when selecting construction products
  • Understand the organisation's construction products hierarchy and how to obtain advice and raise concerns as appropriate within it
  • Understand your responsibility to follow organisational rules about construction products
  • Be aware of the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI) and how it is utilised
  • Know how conformity marking can be used to support product specification
    • To include: Use of the Declaration of Performance to compare products for the same scope of application; Knowing that not all products can be conformity marked
  • Understand how third party certification can support product specification
  • Understand how test reports can support product specification
Core abilities
Close X

Core passive fire knowledge

You must:

  • Know the importance of passive fire protection in safeguarding buildings and people
    • To include: compartmentation; how PFP impedes fire to protect structures and people.
  • Know suitable vocabulary to discuss passive fire protection products
Specific abilities
Close X

Finding and interpreting information on cavity barriers for use in facades

You must:

  • Know the materials that services are commonly made from and their implications for cavity barriers in facades
  • Know the supporting construction materials that are commonly used and their implications for use of cavity barriers in facades
  • Know where to find detailed information on cavity barriers for use in facades
  • Know how to interpret detailed information on cavity barriers for use in facades
    • To include: characteristics, quality, uses and limitations
  • Know that use categories are specified for cavity barriers in facades, and how those categories are located and applied
    • To include categories as set out in the ASFP red book
  • Know organisational processes for highlighting and resolving inaccurate or incomplete product information and why it is important that they are followed
  • Know the impact of getting information wrong
Specific abilities
Close X

Specifying cavity barriers for use in facades

You must:

  • Know how to interpret design information related to cavity barriers for use in facades
  • Know where to find information on product warranties

You must be able to:

  • Identify the requirements for cavity barriers for use in facades based on the design provided and the conditions on site
  • Review direct field of application and certified product performance to determine and specify suitable cavity barriers for use in facades
Specific abilities
Close X

Limits of responsibility

You must:

  • Understand that you may propose alternative products within a direct scope of application meeting stated requirements, but cannot make a product selection or substitution recommendation as this incurs a design responsibility
Specific abilities
Close X

Handling product variation

You must be able to:

  • Identify where product variation may be required
  • Follow organisational processes to escalate product variation queries
Specific abilities
Close X

Communicating specification information

You must:

  • Know organisational processes for communication of specification information

You must be able to:

  • Follow organisational processes to communicate information on the specified products to the installation contractor to help the installer complete their "Golden Thread" requirement

Currency of competence

Specific abilities

Culture & behaviour

Core abilities

Currency of competence

Specific abilities

This is a newly defined activity profile. If you have any comments, please get in touch.
British Standards are reproduced within this ASFP website with the permission of the BSI Standards Limited (BSI) under licence number 2022ET010. Copyright subsists in all BSI publications. Except as defined in the End User Copyright Terms and Conditions of this product, no British Standard either in part or whole, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior permission of BSI.