Active fire systems are designed to detect and suppress fires. They include alarms, sprinklers, and smoke vents. Passive fire systems are structural and are built into the fabric of the building to resist fire and smoke. Both are essential, but passive protection is the first line of defence for maintaining escape routes and structural integrity.

Yes, passive fire protection is a legal requirement under UK building regulations. Legislation such as Approved Document B, the Fire Safety Act 2021, and the Building Safety Act 2022 all mandate appropriate fire-stopping, compartmentation, and protection of structural elements. These rules apply to residential, commercial, public, and industrial buildings.

Fire compartmentation is a fundamental principle of PFP. It involves dividing a building into smaller, manageable sections (or 'compartments') using fire-resistant walls, floors, and doors. This strategy is designed to contain a fire to its point of origin, slowing its spread and allowing time for occupants to evacuate safely.

Effective compartmentation saves lives and protects property. By containing fire and smoke, it: • Maintains the tenability of escape routes • Prevents rapid fire spread throughout the building • Protects the building's structural integrity • Provides safer access for emergency services

Penetration sealing is the process of sealing any openings or gaps where services (like pipes, cables, or ducts) pass through a fire-resistant wall or floor. This is critical to maintain the integrity of the fire compartment, as these gaps would otherwise allow fire and smoke to pass through easily.

These are internal walls specifically constructed to provide a certified level of fire resistance, typically rated in minutes (e.g., 30, 60, or 120 minutes). They are a primary component used to create fire compartments and protected escape routes.

This involves protecting a building's load-bearing elements—particularly structural steel—from the effects of fire. Steel can lose its structural integrity at high temperatures, leading to collapse. Protection is often applied using fire-rated boards or intumescent coatings, which insulate the steel and prolong its stability during a fire.

Fire doors are a crucial, engineered component of a fire compartment. They are designed to be self-closing and are fitted with special intumescent seals that expand in heat. When closed, they form a barrier that blocks the passage of fire and smoke for a specified period (e.g., 30 or 60 minutes).

Cavity barriers are fire-stopping materials used to seal concealed spaces (voids) within a building's construction, such as in walls, floors, or roof spaces. Their purpose is to prevent the unseen spread of smoke and flame through these hidden routes.

This is a specific type of cavity barrier installed to seal the linear gap between the edge of a floor slab and the building's external façade (like curtain walling or cladding). This is critical for preventing fire from spreading vertically from one floor to the next up the outside of the building.

Yes. Here at Crown Fire Systems, every solution we install is fully compliant with UK Building Regulations Part B, the Fire Safety Act, and the relevant BS/EN fire protection standards. We stay ahead of regulatory updates to ensure long-term compliance for our clients.

Third-party accreditation is a voluntary process where a passive fire protection installation company is independently assessed by a specialist, UKAS-accredited certification body (such as FIRAS). This assessment validates the company's competence, processes, and a sample of its completed site work to ensure it meets the required technical standards.

A certification body will typically audit the installer's management systems, review the competency and training of its operatives, and conduct regular, random site surveillance visits. This ensures that the installer is consistently following the correct, tested, and specified installation methods.

While it is not a direct legal requirement to simply operate as an installer, third-party accreditation is considered the industry's best practice standard. Following the Building Safety Act, it is increasingly demanded by clients, building control, and insurers as the primary way to demonstrate and verify the competence of contractors.

Crown Fire Systems holds multiple third-party certifications to ensure compliance, safety, and performance across every project: • CHAS (The Contractors Health & Safety Assessment Scheme): The UK's leading health and safety accreditation, proving our processes meet excellent standards and legal compliance. • SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement): A recognised mutual standard for occupational health and safety, demonstrating our competence and compliance. • Constructionline: A government-recognised register of pre-qualified contractors, giving clients confidence in our credibility and capabilities.

Crown Fire Systems is currently working towards achieving FIRAS Certification. This is an independent, UKAS-accredited body providing third-party certification for fire protection. We are actively building our portfolio and undergoing the necessary processes to gain this certification to provide our clients with this additional, robust layer of third-party assurance.

Digital records are a modern, auditable system for documenting PFP installations. Every installation is electronically tagged, photographed, and logged with details of its location, the products used, and the operative who installed it. This creates a permanent and easily accessible 'golden thread' of information for the building's fire safety file.

Crown Fire Systems takes digital records for all our works. We use bespoke Onetrace Templates, a specialised software platform for the fire protection industry. This allows us to capture all necessary compliance data in real-time, complete with photographic evidence, ensuring full accountability and traceability for every installation.

Our bespoke Onetrace templates ensure that all information is captured consistently and accurately, eliminating guesswork. Crown Fire Systems also has the capability to install QR codes at installation points. When scanned, these codes can link directly to the digital record, providing clients, building managers, and future inspectors with instant access to the compliance data for that specific fire-stop.

Crown Fire Systems works across a wide range of sectors, including: • Commercial Construction • Education • Facilities Management • Healthcare • Hotels and Leisure • Residential Developments Each environment has unique risks, and we install systems tailored to meet these requirements.

Crown Fire Systems prides itself on agility. For urgent requests, we can usually respond within 24–48 hours, depending on the project's location and complexity.

Yes, Crown Fire Systems offers 15-minute online consultations. These are ideal for getting rapid technical advice when fast decision-making is required on-site.

The 'golden thread' is a concept formalised by the Building Safety Act 2022. It refers to the digital record of a building's fire safety and structural information, kept up-to-date from design through to occupation. Crown Fire Systems' digital records (via Onetrace) are a key part of helping our clients build and maintain this golden thread for all passive fire protection elements.

Buildings change over time. New services are often installed, and existing PFP can be damaged or removed, creating breaches in fire compartments. A PFP survey involves a detailed inspection to identify these defects, allowing for a comprehensive remedial plan to restore the building's fire safety integrity.

Every installation Crown Fire Systems carries out is supported by qualified personnel. We ensure our teams are competent, fully trained in the systems they are installing, and work under our accredited health and safety processes (CHAS and SSIP).