Fire compartmentation is a fire safety method that involves dividing a building into smaller, fire-resistant units to prevent the spread of fire and smoke: Fire compartmentation is important for both life safety and property protection:
- Life safety Fire compartmentation protects escape routes, such as stair enclosures, escape corridors, protected lobbies, and firefighting shafts.
- Property protection Fire compartmentation limits the spread of fire to the area where it started. This is especially important in areas with special fire hazards, like plant rooms, or
areas with high financial or strategic value, like server rooms or IT suites.
Fire compartmentation is achieved by:
- Using fire-resistant materials to reinforce each compartment
- Installing protective measures, like fire doors or cavity barriers
- Ensuring that openings and penetrations in walls and floors, like doors, windows, ductwork, or service penetrations, are installed and maintained to maintain fire resistance