Fire and flood show no mercy, and building is no easy task | Where can you find reliable passive fire protection solutions? See who Chinese and Kiwi industry professionals choose!

As a Chinese saying goes, fire and flood show no mercy. Whether under construction or complete, homes can face all kinds of challenges at any time. The floods in Auckland over the past two months have shown the devastating consequences flooding can have for buildings and property.

 

For builders in New Zealand, however, buildings also face the risk of fire.

 

Speaking of fires in New Zealand, the most recent to cause heavy losses occurred in Auckland. On 22 October 2019, a fire broke out at the construction site of the New Zealand International Convention Centre, a project costing approximately NZ$750,000,000. The blaze burned for more than 50 hours before it was extinguished. Fortunately, no lives were lost.

 

 

 

The New Zealand Government has always maintained fairly strict fire protection standards for new buildings. However, since the London apartment fire in 2017, it has significantly tightened scrutiny of passive fire protection and fire safety compliance in building projects.

 

On 14 June 2017, a fire broke out at Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey apartment building in London. The fire burned for more than a dozen hours, ultimately destroying the entire building and killing 72 people.

 

{ad}

 

The apartment fire in Britain sounded a warning for the fire protection industry in fellow Commonwealth country New Zealand. Since then, the New Zealand Government has begun investigating fire hazards and has increased its scrutiny of buildings' passive fire protection and fire safety compliance each year.

 

Passive fire protection means containing a fire within a defined area, preventing smoke, heat and flames from spreading throughout a building.

 

Every building needs a tailored passive fire protection solution. The fire protection design must meet industry standards for the building, while the entire passive fire protection system or its products must meet national fire safety standards. On-site installation must also strictly comply with the relevant standards.

 

So, how can builders and passive fire protection installers find a professional, reliable supplier?

 

We interviewed Chinese and Kiwi industry professionals, who shared their experience and criteria for selecting a passive fire protection supplier:

 

A range of reliable brands and fully accessible compliance documents

 

Tony Edwards has 10 years' experience in passive fire protection. He is currently a passive fire protection estimator and supervisor at Zero Fire, a Hamilton fire protection design and installation company.

 

He believes the key criterion when choosing a passive fire protection supplier is a diverse range of fully compliant products from reliable brands. Different passive fire protection distributors offer different products because applications vary. Every situation requires a solution tailored to the project itself.

 

For passive fire protection technicians, the ideal supplier offers: A diverse range of passive fire protection systems and products, with all compliance documents provided.

 

He says smaller suppliers often represent only one or two brands, limiting the choice. Larger suppliers such as Firestop Centre offer a wide range of passive fire protection solutions and products, which is why he has worked with Firestop Centre for more than 8 years.

 

Firestop Centre is one of New Zealand's leading passive fire protection companies and has been established for 12 years.

 

Firestop Centre offers a diverse range of passive fire protection products and is an authorised distributor for many well-known brands in the field, including ALLPROOF, Trafalgar, Protecta, Tenmat and CSD, as well as its own Firestop brand. All the fire protection systems and products it distributes are fully compliant. You can find all their technical and compliance documents on the Firestop Centre website. Making comprehensive compliance documents and installation drawings openly available demonstrates Firestop Centre's professional expertise and capability, while also making things much easier for customers.

 

 

Professional expertise in fire protection solutions

 

Tony Edwards says a supplier's expertise matters greatly to him when choosing passive fire protection solutions. Firestop Centre has specialised in passive fire protection for 12 years and has extensive experience with complex commercial and residential buildings, enabling it to handle all kinds of situations confidently. If a problem arises on site, simply send photos to Firestop Centre's experts. They can quickly provide a passive fire protection solution tailored to the situation, together with the relevant compliance documents and installation drawings.

 

On one occasion, Edwards found an opening containing both cables and pipes on a building site. Finding a passive fire protection solution for it was tricky, so he immediately sent photos to the Firestop Centre team. Within a day, he received a professional solution, including fire protection guidance and installation drawings.

 

Understanding Chinese customers' needs

 

In 2023, Firestop Centre is committed to substantially expanding its partnerships with Chinese builders. To provide them with better service, it has begun translating key passive fire protection product information into Chinese. Firestop Centre has also hired Chinese staff to provide more direct technical support specifically for Chinese passive fire protection specialists and installation companies. Customers can communicate freely in Chinese, helping them understand products, technical information and installation solutions more directly and clearly.

 

Chris Ni, general manager of Tech Passive Fire and a Chinese customer of Firestop Centre, has high praise for its customer service. He says its responses are friendly and prompt, and its technical support is comprehensive.

 

He has worked with Firestop Centre for nearly 7 years. Whenever he needs compliance documents for passive fire protection products, a phone call or email always brings accurate, detailed guidance within hours.

 

Convenient, efficient online tools

 

Many builders may find passive fire protection solutions particularly complicated, but professional online tools can now help simplify the process. Firestop Centre also offers an online tool, System Selector, which helps customers obtain passive fire protection solutions quickly and efficiently, saving time and effort.

 

Customers simply select the relevant passive fire protection application, such as walls, ceilings or more complex situations involving switches or cables passing through. Then they click the “System Search” button, and within seconds the system provides the required Firestop Centre products, along with all compliance documents and installation drawings.

 

Firestop Centre's online System Selector tool:

www.firestopcentre.co.nz/system-selector

 

A commitment to putting customers first

 

In the interview, Edwards said Firestop Centre puts every customer first and provides excellent service, regardless of company size or volume of business. His company, Zero Fire, is based in Hamilton and is relatively small. Yet Firestop Centre is just as friendly, attentive and responsive, which is why Edwards has remained a loyal customer for 8 years.

 

Tech Passive Fire general manager Chris Ni also speaks highly of Firestop Centre's customer-first service. He says that since Chinese staff joined this year, his partnership with Firestop Centre has become closer and work has run more smoothly.

 

Need reliable passive fire protection products and technical support? Still struggling to find a passive fire protection solution?

 

Contact Firestop Centre today!