Fire, Security & Life Safety Systems
Fire Stopping
Every new cable or pipe run through a fire-rated wall leaves a hole in that compartment until someone seals it properly. Most of these gaps sit above ceilings and in service risers, where they go unnoticed until a fire risk assessment or insurer survey finds them.
Robinsons Facilities Services arranges compartmentation surveys, penetration sealing and remedial fire stopping for commercial buildings across Yorkshire and the Humber. We coordinate specialist fire stopping installers and hand you a photographic record of what was found and fixed.
Quoted works from £100+VAT | PPM contracts from £385+VAT/year
Get a quote for commercial fire stopping →
Prefer to speak to someone? Call us on 01423 226578 →
Fire stopping seals the gaps where pipes, cables and other services pass through fire-resisting walls and floors, so fire and smoke can’t spread between compartments. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 it must be kept in efficient working order and good repair. The law sets no inspection interval, so the fire risk assessment decides how often it’s checked.
What the law requires
The ongoing duty comes from Article 17 of the Fire Safety Order, which requires the premises and their fire safety measures to be maintained, compartmentation included. Since October 2023 the responsible person must also record the fire safety arrangements for the premises in full, and survey findings and remedial records support that record.
Approved Document B applies when a building is built or altered. It expects openings for services through compartment walls and floors to be fire-stopped, so any fit-out or new installation that breaks through a fire-rated element should leave it sealed again.
What the service covers
- compartmentation surveys: inspecting fire-rated walls, floors and risers to find unsealed or poorly sealed penetrations
- penetration sealing: sealing around pipes, cables, cable trays and ductwork with products suited to each service
- linear joint sealing: head-of-wall, perimeter and movement joints between fire-rated elements
- remedial work: replacing fire stopping that has been damaged, disturbed or wrongly installed
- records: a referenced, photographed log of every seal inspected or installed
Products should be tested for the use they’re put to, typically BS EN 1366-3 for penetration seals and BS EN 1366-4 for linear joints, with older products tested to BS 476-20.
How a fire stopping job runs
Step 1: Survey and schedule
The survey locates each penetration and joint in the fire-rated construction, photographs it and records whether it meets the required rating. Failures go into a schedule of works.
Step 2: Remedial works
Specialist installers seal each item using the product specified for it, working in phases where needed so occupied areas stay open.
Step 3: Handover records
You receive the updated schedule with before-and-after photos and the product used at each location, ready for your fire safety records.
When to check fire stopping
There’s no fixed legal interval. Your fire risk assessment should set one based on the building and how often services change. The riskiest moments are after work by other trades, so a check is worth booking after any electrical, data, plumbing or ventilation job that passed through a compartment wall or floor, and before a new tenant moves in after a fit-out.
Pricing
Quoted works from £100+VAT
Surveys and remedial works are priced as quoted works. The survey sets the scope, and you get a fixed, itemised price for the sealing before any work starts.
PPM contracts from £385+VAT/year
Periodic compartmentation checks can be scheduled through a PPM and compliance contract alongside your other fire safety maintenance, with records held in the customer portal.
How we support you
We act as your single point of contact for the specialist installers, handling access, scheduling and paperwork. Fire stopping often sits alongside fire damper testing, since dampers are fitted where ductwork crosses the same compartment walls, so both can be checked on one programme. In older buildings an asbestos survey may be needed before walls or ceilings are opened up.
Robinsons Facilities Services is SafeContractor approved and holds UKAS-certified ISO 9001.
Get a quote for commercial fire stopping →
Prefer to speak to someone? Call us on 01423 226578 →
Fire Stopping FAQs
It depends on how many penetrations need sealing and how hard they are to reach. With Robinsons Facilities Services, surveys and remedial works start from £100+VAT as quoted works, and periodic checks can go on a PPM contract from £385+VAT/year. You get a fixed price after the survey. Send us an enquiry or call us on 01423 226578 for a quote.
Compartmentation divides a building into fire-resisting sections using walls and floors with a set fire rating. It holds a fire in the area where it starts for long enough for people to escape. Fire stopping keeps those sections intact where services pass through them.
Keeping it in working order is. The Fire Safety Order requires fire precautions, including compartmentation, to be maintained, and Approved Document B expects service openings to be sealed during building work. Failing to maintain fire precautions can lead to enforcement action or prosecution.
The responsible person under the Fire Safety Order, usually the employer or building owner. In shared buildings the duty can be split between landlord and tenants, so check your lease. Whoever commissions work through a compartment wall should make sure it’s sealed afterwards.
Intumescent sealants and collars, fire-rated batts and boards, pipe wraps and fire-rated foams are the most common. Each penetration needs a product tested for that service type and wall or floor construction, which is why the survey specifies them item by item.
Active protection does something when a fire starts, like sprinklers discharging or an alarm sounding. Passive protection is built into the structure and works all the time, such as fire-rated walls and floors, fire doors and fire stopping. Our guide to passive fire protection covers it in more depth.
Visible gaps around pipes and cables in risers or above ceilings are the usual sign, along with general-purpose expanding foam used as a filler and services added since the last survey. A compartmentation survey is the only reliable way to check the whole building.
Installers with specific fire stopping training who use products tested for each application. Ask whether they hold third-party certification for the work and how they record what they install, since that record is your evidence later.
Last updated: 13/10/2026
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