Develop designs for fire resistant floors, walls and ceilings to meet a fire strategy and regulatory frameworks

Design & specify | DS009

This activity is about influencing the design of buildings, arrangement of services and specification of fire resistant walls, floors and ceilings, as the design is emerging during RIBA stage 3 (Spatial Coordination)
Culture & behaviour
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Effective working behaviours

You must:

  • Work within limits of defined 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 defined personal development activities to maintain currency of competence
Culture & behaviour
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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
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Experience developing designs for fire resistant floors, walls and ceilings

You must have:

  • 1 instance of design of fire resistant walls, floors and ceilings to meet fire strategy and regulatory frameworks, per year
Core abilities
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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
Core abilities
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Selecting 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 how digital engineering can assist with the design and specification process, and its limitations
  • 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
  • Know where to find information on product warranties
  • Know the impact of getting information wrong
Core abilities
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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
Specific abilities
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Developing designs for fire resistant walls, floors and ceilings

You must be able to:

  • Interpret technical information from manufacturers against the requirements in the fire strategy, building designs and/or site conditions that exist to make a judgement about the suitability of the products proposed for use in the specification, relating to fire resistant walls, floors and ceilings
  • Confirm products required for installation of fire resistant walls, floors and ceilings to meet fire strategy and design intent
  • Select alternative products for use in line with the specification where proposed products for fire resistant walls, floors and ceilings are unsuitable
  • Escalate issues for resolution, where unsuitable products or systems have been proposed for use and no alternatives are available in line with the specification
Specific abilities
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Finding and interpreting information on passive fire products for fire resistant walls, floors and ceilings

You must:

  • Know common materials used to create fire resistant walls, floors and ceilings, and methods used to protect them
  • Know where to find detailed information on passive fire protection products, relating to fire resistant walls, floors and ceilings
  • Know how to interpret detailed information on passive fire protection products used for fire resistant walls, floors and ceilings
  • To include: Characteristics, quality, uses, limitations
  • Know that duty ratings are specified for materials used for fire resisting walls, floors & ceilings, and how those duty ratings are located and applied
  • To include duty ratings as laid out in the ASFP purple book
  • Understand where information about interfaces between fire resisting walls, floors and ceilings and other systems has been provided, the consequences of interfaces, and where to seek advice in relation to interfaces
  • To include: potential impacts on other design criteria
  • Know organisational processes for highlighting and resolving inaccurate or incomplete product information and why it is important that they are followed
Specific abilities
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Limits of responsibility

You must:

  • Understand that at this level you may select or propose a construction product for a direct scope of application, but for construction products for extended scopes of application or bespoke products, choices should be referred to the appropriately competent individual
Specific abilities
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Communicating design information

You must:

  • Know organisational processes for communication of design information

You must be able to:

  • Communicate the requirements to relevant stakeholders
  • Use organisational procedures to document changes made to the specification
This is a newly defined activity profile. If you have any comments, please get in touch.