Understanding Nullifire Technical Evaluations
Technical Evaluations (TEs), or Engineering Judgements, as they were previously referred to, is a drawing or group of drawings generated by our in-house technical team for a customer’s specific job site application. They are recommended as a solution when a contractor's application deviates from third-party tested fire-stopping systems.
With contractors around the UK and Ireland, consistently encountering unique job site conditions requiring new penetrations through fire-rated areas, Nullifire recognise the industry need for technical evaluations however these will only be presented as a recommended solution when job site conditions deviate from a tested design/solution and site cannot/refuse to adjust conditions to bring them in line with testing.
Following PFPF guidelines as closely as possible, technical evaluations are fire-stopping proposals created by a qualified member of the Nullifire team based on pre-existing third-party tested and approved systems. The expert’s opinion does not consider fire engineering or fire science – it is purely formulated by historical test data and professional judgement.
It is important to remember that no two technical evaluations are the same, meaning that any TE issued by the Nullifire technical is site-specific due to the various substrates, dimensions, conditions, etc.
Acquiring a Technical Evaluation from Nullifire:
1. Consultation with Nullifire Technical Team
A quick and easy process, our consultations will identify the need for technical evaluations. During the consultation, our team will be able to let you know if we have sufficient data to generate a TE.
2. TE Generation
After consultation, our in-house experts will draw an technical evaluation, based on historical test data and professional judgement. The TE will include a description of scope, and rational behind the opinion. The technical evaluation issued will always be based upon a minimum of one test, however, most will be based upon multiple third-party tested designs/solutions.
3. Issue TE and relevant certification to the contractor
Upon issue, the contractor requesting the TE will receive the proposed solution and supporting certification. Our technical team is on hand to talk contractors through the technical evaluations and the rationale behind the evaluation if required. Contractors will also be talked through the assess, accept, and build and burn process.
4. Accept It, if refused - assess It, build, and burn It
This is a critical step in the process of issuing a technical evaluation. All contractors and sites should accept the TE and associated liabilities before installation. If not accepted, it is a requirement that the TE undergoes a desktop assessment by a third party fire engineer.
An alternate option would be that the contractor or client seeks to have the technical evaluation tested by a third-party, UKAS-accredited test house.
As a best practice, Nullifire stores all technical evaluations completed for contractors. These are regularly reviewed by our in-house team and commonalities amongst requests are identified and often scoped into our test program.
For more information on Nullifire Fire Stopping, please contact us.
