Keep Your Business Safe With a Regular Firestop Inspection
Whether you are putting up a new commercial building or you just want to improve the safety of your current one, you might have already looked into the benefits of adding fire-stopping protection to your structure. A firestop is designed to prevent flames or smoke from spreading from one floor or room of a building to another. The idea is that if a fire breaks out on one floor, it will not easily spread throughout multiple rooms or multiple floors of the building. Firestop protection will ideally slow the spread of flame and smoke long enough for the firefighters to show up and save the building or provide additional time for your employees to evacuate safely.
If you have firestop protection in your building, it's important to hire an outside inspector for an assessment on a regular basis. Here's why you should form a long-term partnership with a third-party firestop inspector today.
Firestop Materials Are Just Like Any Other Part of Your Building and Can Decay Over Time
When you install new insulation in your walls, you have an expectation that it will improve your energy efficiency and last for many years. But it's not a permanent fix, and you'll of course want to check up on your insulation to make sure it's still working in the years ahead. This same logic applies to your firestop installations. No building material is completely immune to decay or degradation over time. You can't just install firestop materials and then never think about it again, you need to make sure it's still ready to do the job just like any other part of your building.
An Inspection Can Save Lives or Property
You don't want to find out the hard way that your firestop installations are not stopping the spread of smoke or flame. A regular inspection will ensure everything is working as it should, and can be the difference between getting someone out of the building safely or preventing a fire from damaging more than just one room or floor of your building.
Stay in Compliance With All Regulations and Standards
If your business works with equipment that generates a lot of heat, you may be expected by local regulations or industry watchdogs to make sure that you can remain in control of the situation if all of that heat ever causes a problem. Firestop installations in some cases may be, if not legally required, at least looked at as an industry best practice that should be followed if a company wants to maintain a safe work environment.
Contact a local firestop inspector today for more information.