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We believe that knowledge is best when it's shared! Here, we would like to share part of our knowledge in Mechanical Engineering, Fire Engineering, Passive Fire Protection, height safety, and forensic investigation. We also encourage you to share this information with others and keep the conversation active.
Our goal is to contribute to the community safety and improve the industry standards. As such, we also invite you to contact us if any of the articles could be improved or if there is any specific issue you would like us to write about.
Passive Fire Protection in existing buildings
Risk based, practical and collaborative methodology for remedying passive fire defects. This methodology includes working with the Building
Danilo Macedo
May 23, 20253 min read
Passive Fire Protection Qualifications in New Zealand
Formal Passive Fire Protection qualifications available that are recognised by NZQA
Danilo Macedo
Apr 9, 20244 min read
Passive Fire Protection: How to find the fire separations?
In my last Passive Fire Protection LinkedIN post, I raised a question: How is it that buildings subject to annual BWOF inspections can continue to have massive, life threatening passive fire Protection issues? Well, after talking to a lot of IQPs over the last several months about the challenges they face in this area, I was a little shocked to learn that commonly they turn up to a building and just don’t know where all the fire separations are and so don't know where they sh
Rob Holland
Mar 22, 20243 min read
Passive Fire Protection Installers - How do you choose one?
Unfortunately, in New Zealand, Passive Fire Protection is still not a licensed profession nor a well-established trade and anyone can open a company and proclaim themselves to be a passive fire installer without any qualification or experience. Therefore, a common question we get from clients is "Do you have a Passive Fire Protection Installation company to recommend?". Although we have dealt with many different installation companies, each type of job may require a different
Danilo Macedo
Jan 31, 20245 min read
Passive Fire Protection Products: Where to find them?
There are numerous manufacturers of Passive Fire Products worldwide, however, not all of them are available in New Zealand, and even...
Danilo Macedo
Nov 23, 20236 min read
Passive Fire Protection Training for Property Managers
To answer many Property Manager questions, we created a FREE training session, "Passive Fire Protection for Property Managers"
Danilo Macedo
Jul 24, 20232 min read
Flood restoration: Do I need consent or a Fire Engineer?
Understanding the need for Consent of a flood-damaged building.
Rob Holland
Apr 26, 20234 min read
Fire Safety Design: What Are Smoke Separations?
The basic principle behind passive fire protection is compartmentation. This compartmentation is mainly achieved through fire...
Danilo Macedo
Feb 10, 20234 min read
New Zealand Construction Legislation
According to the Cambridge dictionary, compliance means: · “The act of obeying an order, rule, or request”. · “The fact of obeying a particular law or rule, or of acting according to an agreement”. We hear and deal with compliance daily, and most people understand that to be compliant means that you are following the law by achieving specific requirements. But which law? And specifically for the construction industry, how is the legislation structured? The Building Act 2004
Danilo Macedo
Feb 10, 20233 min read
Fire Safety Design: What are Fire Separations?
The basic principle behind passive fire protection is compartmentation. This compartmentation is achieved through fire separations and firecells. Some short definitions can be found in the Building code: Firecells are any space, including a group of contiguous spaces on the same or different levels within a building, which is enclosed by any combination of fire separations, external walls, roofs, and floors. Floors, in this context, include ground floors and those in which th
Danilo Macedo
Feb 10, 20232 min read
What are the Important Aspects of Passive Fire Protection?
New passive fire protection products become available all the time, so users must keep up with the latest developments to see how they may be able to include them in their work. When selecting a passive Fire Protection system, in all cases, the manufacturer’s specifications must be followed. However, when discussing your situation, some simple questions are going to be raised by the manufacturer. Without answering these questions, you might not have a satisfactory answer or
Danilo Macedo
Feb 10, 20233 min read
Verifying the Performance of a Passive Fire Protection System?
When dealing with passive fire protection, it is common to refer to the performance of a system generically as “60 minutes fire rated” or...
Danilo Macedo
Feb 10, 20234 min read
Passive Fire Protection responsibilities?
One misconception in the industry is who is accountable and responsible for a low level of compliance or lack of passive fire protection....
Danilo Macedo
Feb 10, 20233 min read
What is Fire Resistance Rating?
Fire Resistance Rating (FRR) is defined by measuring the ability of a passive fire protection material or systems to resist a standard fire resistance test. It comprises the time (in minutes) for which each of three criteria are satisfied when the element is exposed to the temperature, pressure and applied load specified in the test procedure. Note that a '2-hour fire rating' is not a complete specification. It has to come in the form of structural adequacy, integrity, and
Danilo Macedo
Feb 10, 20232 min read
What is Passive Fire Protection?
Passive fire protection is the prevention or delay of the spread of fire and/or smoke to different parts of the building by using construction elements designed with this purpose. Passive (as opposed to active) Fire Protection uses structural systems that don’t rely on activation from technology or human intervention and do not require water or power for it to perform. This protection is supported by good fire safety management and using tested Passive Fire protection systems
Danilo Macedo
Feb 10, 20232 min read
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