Penetrant (mechanical, electrical, or structural)
Encyclopedia
Plumbing
Plumbing is the system of pipes and drains installed in a building for the distribution of potable drinking water and the removal of waterborne wastes, and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures in such systems. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping...
, electrical conduits, duct
Duct
A duct may refer to:* Duct , various ducts in anatomy and physiology* Duct , for transfer of air between spaces in a structure* Duct tape, a kind of adhesive tape* Ducted fan, motor for aircraft...
ing, cable
Cable
A cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...
s and cable tray
Cable tray
In the electrical wiring of buildings, a cable tray system is used to support insulated electric cables used for power distribution and communication. Cable trays are used as an alternative to open wiring or electrical conduit systems, and are commonly used for cable management in commercial and...
s, or structural steel
Structural steel
Structural steel is steel construction material, a profile, formed with a specific shape or cross section and certain standards of chemical composition and mechanical properties...
beams and columns. When these items pierce a wall or floor assembly, they create a space between the penetrant and the surrounding structure, which can become an avenue for the spread of fire between rooms or floors. Modern building code
Building code
A building code, or building control, is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as buildings and nonbuilding structures. The main purpose of building codes are to protect public health, safety and general welfare as they relate to the...
s generally require a service penetration
Penetration (firestop)
A penetration, in firestopping, is an opening, such as one created by the use of a cast-in-place sleeve, in a wall or floor assembly required to have a fire-resistance rating, for the purpose of accommodating the passage of a mechanical, electrical or structural penetrant. The penetration may or...
firestop
Firestop
A firestop is a passive fire protection system of various components used to seal openings and joints in fire-resistance rated wall and/or floor assemblies, based on fire testing and certification listings....
to seal the openings around penetrants (or "services"), in order to restore the fire-resistance rating
Fire-resistance rating
A fire-resistance rating typically means the duration for which a passive fire protection system can withstand a standard fire resistance test. This can be quantified simply as a measure of time, or it may entail a host of other criteria, involving other evidence of functionality or fitness for...
of the parent assembly.
Sizing of all openings has significant impact upon the adherence to the certification listing
Certification listing
A certification listing is a document used to guide installations of certified products against which a field installation is compared to make sure that it complies with a regulation, such as a building code...
requirements. Therefore, communication between all affected trades is of great importance before any openings are made, to ensure proper sizing of the openings for cost
Cost
In production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which case the amount of money expended to acquire it is counted as cost. In this...
control and conformance with listing and approval use and compliance.
Penetrants are typically accommodated by plumbers and electricians, who prepare for them by installing sleeves in concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
walls and floors, before they are poured. In the case of masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
walls, electricians and plumbers tend to be there first and hang sleeves around their piping, ductwork and conduit, where they know from their drawings that block walls will be erected, in order to avoid the time and expense of having to cut openings in existing walls and floors.
In the case of drywall
Drywall
Drywall, also known as plasterboard, wallboard or gypsum board is a panel made of gypsum plaster pressed between two thick sheets of paper...
assemblies, the opening size is determined by the drywall contractor, unless the mechanical and electrical trades are contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
ually obliged
Obligation
An obligation is a requirement to take some course of action, whether legal or moral. There are also obligations in other normative contexts, such as obligations of etiquette, social obligations, and possibly...
to provide sleeving here as well, with proper fastening
Fastener
A fastener is a hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects together.Fasteners can also be used to close a container such as a bag, a box, or an envelope; or they may involve keeping together the sides of an opening of flexible material, attaching a lid to a container,...
methods that are in conformance with the certification listing. It is not uncommon for these trades to attempt to absolve themselves of the requirement to firestop their openings in the drywall assemblies by claiming that they were there first, meaning that others should take care of the rest. Since drywall contractor
Subcontractor
A subcontractor is an individual or in many cases a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract....
s are not ordinarily required to do mechanical and electrical firestopping, the drywall openings can become an item of dispute or neglect
Negligence
Negligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances. The area of tort law known as negligence involves harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm.According to Jay M...
, particularly in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
. This common issue can be minimised by designating a separate firestopping sub-contract, whereby a separate speciality sub-contractor firestops all openings on site, mechanical, electrical and structural, as well as the building joints
Joint (building)
A building joint is a junction where building elements meet without applying a static load from one element to another. When one or more of these vertical or horizontal elements that meet are required by the local building code to have a fire-resistance rating, the resulting opening that makes up...
.
Timber floor openings are simply cut by means of a chainsaw
Chainsaw
A chainsaw is a portable mechanical saw, powered by electricity, compressed air, hydraulic power, or most commonly a two-stroke engine...
. In this case, the width of the blade will determine sizes.