OPERA – PASSIVE FIRE PROTECTION

Akzo Nobel made an interesting presentation about coatings and passive fire protection at the OPERA meeting on 23 June 2020. Our engineers see cases of the failure of passive fireproofing on almost every survey we make. While the cost of the fireproofing is relatively low, its failure can result in very large losses.

Akzo Nobel emphasised the importance of performance based design of the fireproofing to suit the particular application. The importance of the quality of application was also discussed and this area was of much interest to the audience.

In our experience, poor application is the main cause of failure. The contractor applying the fireproofing should be trained by the vendor and the plant should control the quality of the work, with the assistance of the vendor, if possible.