Develop descriptive designs for fire resisting ducts and dampers

Design & specify | DS011

This activity is about influencing the design intent of buildings, arrangement of services and performance requirements (performance specification)of fire resisting ducts and dampers, as the design is emerging. This may be carried out during RIBA stage 3 (Spatial Coordination) on new build projects or during repair, maintenance and improvement activities.

Culture & behaviour

Core abilities

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
  • Follow organisational processes for highlighting and resolving inaccurate or incomplete product information
    • The individual knows what the processes are, why they are important and follows the processes in place
Currency of competence
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Experience developing descriptive designs for fire resisting ducts and dampers

You must have:

  • 1 descriptive design of fire resisting ducts and dampers to meet fire strategy and regulatory frameworks,  per year
Core abilities
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Core passive fire knowledge

You must:

  • Understand 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

To provide evidence, you may complete:

  • IFE Level 2 Certificate in Passive Fire Protection
  • IFE Level 2 Award in Passive Fire Protection
    • Any one or more of the awards currently on offer
  • IFE Level 3 Certificate in Passive Fire Protection
Core abilities
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Selecting construction products

You must:

  • Understand how legislation and official guidance relates to the design of passive fire protection, and the consequences of non-compliance
  • Understand how digital engineering can assist with the design process, and its limitations
  • Understand that buildings work as systems and know the importance of this for passive fire design
  • 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
  • Understand how conformity marking can be used to support passive fire design
    • 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 passive fire design
  • Understand how test reports can support product specification
  • 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 specified product is not available or where conditions at site don't meet design intent
Specific abilities
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Developing descriptive designs for fire resisting ducts and dampers

You must be able to:

  • Interpret technical information from the fire strategy, building designs and/or site conditions to create a descriptive design for fire resisting ducts and dampers
  • Validate prescriptive designs for fire resisting ducts and dampers to meet fire strategy and design intent
  • Review, amend and communicate descriptive design where no suitable products can be specified in line with design intent
Specific abilities
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Understanding fire resistant ducts and dampers

You must:

  • Know types of damper and where to find information on their mechanism of operation and use
    • Including: differences between fire resisting dampers and smoke control dampers, including fire resisting dampers with smoke leakage performance
  • Know types of fire resisting ductwork and methods used to maintain compartmentation where passing through compartment walls
  • Know where to find information on firestopping of fire resisting ductwork and dampers and how to interpret that information
    • As laid out in the ASFP blue and grey books
Specific abilities
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Limits of responsibility for descriptive design

You must:

  • Understand that within descriptive design you may accept a construction product for a validated scope of application
Specific abilities
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Communicating descriptive design information

You must:

  • Know methods of communicating descriptive design information

You must be able to:

  • Communicate the descriptive design requirements  to relevant stakeholders
  • Document the descriptive design, including any changes made during the design review process

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.
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