On 1 May 2023, some BIG changes to the requirements for passive fire protection came into force.

Passive fire protection is something plumbers working in commercial and multi-storey apartments have to provide.

Every plumbing pipe or service that passes through a fire-rated floor slab, fire-rated wall into an apartment, or breaches a fire-rated risers shaft needs to have fire stopping systems used to maintain the fire rating or the FRL.

In most cases the plumber is asked to do this as part of their scope of works contractually.

Some noteworthy changes to regulations occurred, as mentioned, on 1 May 2023.

Old fire test reports have now expired and ONLY systems fire-tested to the latest version of AS1530 Part 4, that being 2014 can be used.

The way plumbers have done things may very well have changed due to the expiry of the certification on their trustworthy products ….

These changes have seen a flurry of fire testing for manufacturers of passive fire protection, aka fire stopping products, and many new and innovative systems are now coming to market, replacing some old and tired ones.

Trafalgar Fire, a major company servicing this sector, provides the following tips.

“We have seen a big shift from copper to PEX and PEX-AL-PEX pipes for water and gas, which in itself requires new fire-tested systems to fire stop these new materials; they perform very differently in fire conditions to PVC & HPDE for example,” says John Rakic, owner Trafalgar Group.

“Trafalgar is one company that has embraced the changes and supported the plumbing industry.

“Trafalgar Fire offers a full range of products and system available to the plumbing industry, all of which are fire-tested for compliance with NCC2022. Our company is well known for its orange FyreBOX systems, its FyreWRAP & T-WRAP for metal pipes, but it also has a full range of cast in, retrofit and conduit FyreCOLLARS, FyrePEX high performance graphite sealant used in conjunction with FyreSHEATH & FyreSTRAP.

To make it easier for plumbers to navigate these changes and select the correct passive fire protection measures, Trafalgar has published a Technical Guide for Plumbers. Visit https://tfire.com.au/documents/Plumbers-Technical-Manual

For more information, visit https://tfire.com.au/plumbers/