The International Fire Safety Standards Coalition is committed to developing a shared set of standards for fire safety in buildings.
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In any firefighting operation, the primary objective is to rescue building occupants. However, fire confinement, where firefighters use water or another extinguishing agent to limit the fire to one area, is also crucial.
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While addressable technology has been employed for many years on the ‘detection’ side of fire alarm systems, it can now also be used on the ‘notification’ side. This combination offers a multitude of benefits that can be realized at every stage in the life cycle, from design and installation to operation and ongoing service. Find out more of the benefits here.
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A suspended acoustical ceiling represents a significant percentage of a room’s surface. As such, these ceilings are critical to controlling the noise level in a space by providing a means of absorbing unwanted sound generated inside and blocking unwanted sound generated outside.
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In Canada, products approved for use as a thermal barrier for foamed plastic must pass either CAN4-S124-M, Standard Method of Test for the Evaluation of Protective Coverings for Foamed Plastics, or CAN/ULC-S101, Standard Methods of Fire Endurance Tests of Building Construction and Materials, to comply with the National Building Code of Canada (NBC).
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Combining timber framing and masonry is not a new idea. The use of brick infill known as ‘brick nogging’ with timber post and beam framing has been employed for building houses throughout Europe since the late 12th century.
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As a regulatory representative of Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (ULC), this author sees an increasing number of building designers submitting plans to approving authorities with fire-resistant-rated assemblies as being “based on Design No. XXXX” instead of using the actual listed one. However, a design submitted as being “based on” is not the design “listed” by ULC.
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Thermoformed plastic ceilings have been manufactured since the mid-20th century, and their utility has recently increased due to product innovations, rigorous testing, and certifications from leading building product evaluation services. The growing acceptance of these types of products is evidenced by the addition of a new MasterFormat number and title, 09 54 29–Suspended Plastic Ceilings that will be part of the next update in early 2016.
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Traditional wired glass, which for years was labelled as a ‘safety glass,’ is increasingly being recognized as not being safe when it comes to human impact—it has directly caused serious injuries, most often to school-aged children. In the United States, building code effectively banned wired glass in the 2006 International Building Code (IBC), but Canada has been slower to change its rules.
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