The firestopping expertise of Quelfire combined with the installation skills of RA Fire Protection have created a safe, compliant residential development in Skipton.
Belle Vue Mills in Skipton, North Yorkshire, is a refurbishment project that will create 39 high quality apartments.
Case Study Files
| Project: | Bell Vue Mills |
| Type: | Residential |
| Location: | Skipton |
| Developer: | Triton Construction |
| Installer: | RA Fire Protection |
| Scope: | Refurbishment of existing mill building, thick stone walls, curved ceilings. |
The main contractor at Belle Vue Mills was Triton Construction, which has its head office in Liversedge, West Yorkshire and a North West regional office in Warrington.
There were a number of challenges on this project arising from the fact that it was an original mill building requiring various penetration for services through existing walls and floors.
The walls themselves where thick stone construction, while the curved brick internal ceilings required angled penetrations that then had to be firestopped.
Each of the service apertures in the building had to be correctly firestopped and Yorkshire based RA Fire Protection decided to partner with Quelfire. The company choose to do this because of the complexity of the work as well as the breadth of fire stopping systems offered by Quelfire.
The main contractor had also recommended Quelfire because they had delivered a successful outcome for the M&E contractor during earlier phases at Belle Vue Mills.
John Afford, Director at RA Fire Protection, said: “As soon as we approached Quelfire we could tell that they knew exactly how to overcome the challenges at this existing mill building. Following a meeting on site, the team at Quelfire gave us some technical guidance and then created detailed drawings along with a product call off schedule. That meant we knew we would have the right items on site when we needed them.”
John added; “We’ve used other firestopping suppliers but can confidently say Quelfire wins hands down, every time. The team was efficient, friendly and very knowledgeable. Combined with their proven expertise and great customer service we would highly recommend them.”
Once RA Fire Protection had submitted the drawings and gained approval, it was then a matter of methodically working through the installation schedule on site. With the Quelfire team on hand throughout, and verification checks incorporated into the schedule to ensure all fire stops were completed, the developer was highly confident that the completed project would meet building control requirements.
Firestopping in existing and new buildings is essential to retain fire compartmentation. It is these compartments that delay the spread of fire for a given amount of time, allowing occupants to evacuate to safety. It also ensures safe corridors for fire and rescue services to enter the building, whilst keeping a fire contained for longer delays its spread to other areas.
Fire and smoke can also spread invisibly through ducts and penetrations that aren’t adequately fire stopped, which is why a methodical approach, with rigorous, audited checks at each stage, and label tagging of each penetration, ensured a coordinated approach to the firestopping work at Belle Vue Mills.
An increasing number of contractors like RA Fire Protection are partnering with Quelfire, because the company has the expertise to identify and firestop all penetrations within walls, ceilings and floors.
John Afford, Director at RA Fire Protection, added: “We now use Quelfire on all our sites because they have the technical expertise as well as a product range to meet all our firestopping requirements.”
Quelfire is one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of specialist passive fire protection for buildings and has 40 years’ experience of supplying high quality, independently tested solutions. The company’s products are tested to the current standards including; BS EN1366-3: 2009 and BS476: Part 20: 1987. A number of its products are also CE Marked.
Quelfire has a reputation for outstanding customer support including unlimited technical advice during creation of specifications and overcoming on-site challenges.
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