ASFP Advisory Note 12:

ASFP – BCF BEST PRACTICE GUIDE FOR SPECIFYING

REACTIVE COATING FIRE PROTECTION FOR STEEL
STRUCTURES
1. Introduction

The Association for Specialist Fire Protection and the British Coatings Federation represent
manufacturers and installers of fire protection products for structural steel. Their members have
written this guide to help ensure that coatings are specified and used in the correct way to ensure
that a structure is treated with the required level of fire protection. This guide is aimed at architects,
engineers, specifiers, fabricators, contractors, enforcement authorities and anyone else responsible
for providing adequate fire protection of a steel framed building.

Two annexes have been incorporated into this document. Annex 1 has been added to provide a useful
summary and checklist for the content of this guide, as an aide-memoir. Annex 2 has been added to
provide example of bid submittal for designers/specifiers

Further comprehensive information on the role, specification and design of fire protection in
buildings can be found in the ASFP ‘Yellow Book’: Fire protection for structural steel in buildings, 5th
Edition obtainable free of charge from https://is.gd/IZRRLz

2. Background to specifying ‘limiting temperatures’

It is well known that steel significantly loses strength as its

temperature rises above 400oC to 550oC, a temperature
soon exceeded in many fires. Consequently, there is a need
to ensure that the temperature of the structural frame in a
steel framed building is kept below certain ‘limits’ to
guarantee its structural performance in the event of a fire.
This is traditionally achieved by encasing or spraying the
steel sections with a variety of products and materials which
insulate it for long enough to allow occupants to escape and
to limit damage to the structure itself.

Historically, the default ‘limiting temperatures’ for the UK

required to guarantee such stability were set at 550oC for
columns and 620oC for beams on the basis of an analysis of
the applied loads and safety factors in buildings. Such
guidance was given in the absence of a more engineered
approach. The current ASFP Yellow Book gives detailed
guidance for the selection of limiting temperatures.

The advent of BS5950: Part 8 and the Eurocodes allow designers to better exploit the properties of
structural steel. Individual structural members may be optimised, and the stress level may be higher
or lower which will change the limiting temperatures used in conventional design approaches.

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Using fire engineering, engineers can balance various factors e.g. the severity of the fire that might be
expected to occur, the composite action within the structural frame and the loading factors
appropriate to the end-use amongst others. Such an approach can vary the limiting temperature quite
significantly from the traditional defaults listed above. In some cases this allows reduction of the fire
protection to certain elements in some fire scenarios.

To be able to undertake such calculations and determine appropriate limiting temperatures requires
knowledge and skills beyond the ability of many specifying passive fire protection packages. Those
specifying fire protection packages need to be confident that the solution they specify has been
correctly determined and is up to the job. The ASFP and the BCF recommend that limiting
temperatures not determined in this document must be calculated by a suitably qualified engineer e.g.
chartered engineers recognised by the Engineering Council. Responsibility for the design will rest with
the project design team and the competency of those providing advice. Responsibilities for designers
and specifiers are listed below.

3. Responsibilities of designers and specifiers

Under clause 5.3 and 5.4 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (and national equivalents
in Scotland and Ireland), those specifying, providing and installing fire protection systems have the
same duties and responsibilities as the Responsible Person (Duty Holder in Scotland etc.). This means
that if an incorrect solution is proposed and installed, those designing and installing are jointly liable;
an installer cannot hide behind what was written on the order/specification.

The Construction Design and Management (CDM) Regulations 2015 focusses on managing risk, as
well as the health and safety of everyone involved with designing, specifying, constructing and using
the building right through its life and including its maintenance. In the event of a fire and loss of life,
a court will want to know how every fire protection system was selected and installed, as required by
the CDM Regulations.

4. Design considerations

It is crucially important for those engineers designing the structure including those providing the fire
protection thickness/specification liaise with the fire engineer to ensure that important design
considerations are not omitted or misinterpreted. These include:

1. The required period of fire protection, e.g. 30, 60, 120 minutes for each member.
2. The associated limiting temperature for the design. The flow chart overleaf defines a protocol
for selecting limiting temperatures.
3. Whether cellular beams are to be considered
4. Whether the design code is based on BS 5950, the Eurocodes or another design standard.
Depending on which of these is used will change any default limiting temperatures discussed
earlier.

Annex 1 contains a list of questions which should be addressed by the specifier or a competent person
on his/her behalf to ensure that any submission will correctly provide details for the fire protection
Some misuses of supporting data are listed below. This list is not exhaustive:

1. Where the design uses test evidence obtained from fire tests on beams (tested with a
concrete slab on top which limits fire exposure to only 3 sides) for application on a beam e.g.
a roof beam or a column where all sides are exposed
2. Where data from I section test are used for application on hollow sections

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 3. Where data from one type of section e.g. beams or columns is used to justify use on other
types of section e.g. large flat horizontal plates or the underside of metal decking
4. Use of unsuitable limiting temperatures on portal rafters
5. Use of unjustifiably high limiting temperatures to justify a lower thickness of products and
thus a cheaper solution.
6. The use of maximum tested dry film thicknesses on steel sections which are not covered by
the certification i.e. section factor higher than listed
7. Use of limiting temperatures and design protocol for solid beams for application on cell beams
which require a more complex evaluation. For fire protection considerations for cell beams,
refer to the ASFP Cell Beam Register available at https://is.gd/r6orH8.
8. Extending or extrapolating product performance data beyond the Certificated/listed range
9. Use of Ambient Strength Utilisation below 100% (full strength). This should only be accepted
when provided by the project design team as it could lead to unacceptable and
unproven lower levels of protection.

It is realised that many of the factors above require specialist knowledge to be able to evaluate and
consequently it is recommended that a specialist manufacturer or a suitably qualified engineer (e.g.
chartered engineers recognised by the Engineering Council) be consulted.

The ASFP is offering a foundation course in passive fire protection; individuals who undertake the
training will have the opportunity to obtain Level 2 or Level 3 qualifications in Passive Fire Protection
provided by the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE), a nationally recognised awarding organisation
regulated by the qualification regulators Ofqual. The scheme is suitable for all involved in the
construction industry from designers and specifiers to contractors and specialist installers. It is also
suitable for building owner occupiers and enforcement agencies. Further details can be found here:
https://is.gd/iN0wVN

5. Reliability of installed fire protection

5.1 Third party certification

To ensure confidence that the correctly specified

fire protection will work, it must be manufactured
and installed correctly. The ASFP and the BCF
recommend that this is ensured by requiring third
party certification which uses the services of
independent third-party bodies to monitor the
manufacture and installation of fire protection
products. There are two types of third party
certification: certification of products and
certification of installers.

5.2 Certification of products is undertaken by a certification body operating a product certification

scheme accredited by UKAS, the government body that monitors certification bodies. Third party
certification guarantees the quality of the product as it leaves the factory or as supplied to site by a
mixture of:

• Selection of samples for testing by the certification body

• Audits of the manufacturers factory production control systems
• Traceability of product from raw material to final product
• Requirement of manufacturer to operate an ISO 9000 quality management system

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5.3 Certification of installers is undertaken by a certification body operating an installer certification
scheme accredited by UKAS. This may be a different certification body from that used for the product
certification. Third party certification guarantees the quality of the product as installed on site by a
mixture of:

• Auditing of installer company’s records to check correct materials purchased and delivered to
site
• Competency evaluation of installing staff
• Inspection of a selection of jobs during and/or after installation
• Providing completion certificates

5.4 Software verification

A number of software tools are used throughout the industry to design and verify the fire protection
required to individual sections including the thicknesses required to achieve the required fire
resistance. While software verification is not mandatory, it is recommended that end users should
ensure that any such software packages used for structural analysis have been subject to a
verification or certification process by an appropriate independent third party.

5.5 Third party inspection

For some projects either as an alternative to or in addition to third party certification of installers,
clients, architects and other stakeholders specify independent inspection of structural frames during
and after application of the fire protection to ensure that it is all installed correctly. Independent
inspections can be tailored to the particular needs of the job in question and may be able to provide a
more thorough verification of installed fire protection than might be possible with third party
certification schemes for contractors.

6. Example specification of fire protection

To ensure an adequate standard of fire protection, structural design drawings and/or associated
schedules of the various members must specify:

• The required period of fire

protection, e.g. 30, 60, 120
minutes for each structural
member
• The structural design code
• The fire test standard
• The associated limiting
temperature for the design
provided by a specialist
manufacturer or a suitably
qualified engineer e.g. chartered
engineers recognised by the
Engineering Council or other
suitably competent person
• That the fire protection product
be third party certificated and installed by a third-party certificated contractor if on-site
application is used
• That both during and after application, the fire protection be inspected by a third-party
inspection body
• Sufficient handover information including system specifications and thicknesses to:

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 o Cover the provisions of Regulation 38 so that a fire risk assessment can be undertaken
by a fire risk assessor under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order and national
equivalents in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland.
o Enable the fire protection system to be maintained and repaired as appropriate
throughout the life of the building.

EXAMPLE:
“30 minutes fire protection to a limiting temperature of 500oC to Eurocode EN: 1993: 1-2 to
be provided by (type of material) that has been tested to e.g. EN 13381 and third-party
certificated to have the requisite performance, and to be installed by a third-party
certificated contractor and inspected by a third-party inspection body”

ANNEX 1 – CHECK LIST FOR DESIGNERS/SPECIFIERS

1
What is the required period of fire protection in minutes for each member? Mins

2 What is the associated limiting temperature for the design?

Note 1: the flow chart overleaf defines a protocol for selecting limiting
temperatures o
C
Note 2: If the limiting temperature provided is in excess of 650oC, then this should
be questioned, and a second opinion sought
3
Has the limiting temperature been provided (calculated) by a specialist
manufacturer or a suitably qualified engineer e.g. chartered engineers recognised
Yes/No
by the Engineering Council or other suitably competent person?
If not, then this should be questioned and an authoritative second opinion sought
4 Is the utilisation factor ambient or fire limit state?
If you are not sure it should be assumed to be fire limit state. You may need to take
Ambient/fire
advice from a specialist manufacturer or a suitably qualified engineer e.g.
limit state
chartered engineers recognised by the Engineering Council or other suitably
competent person.
5
Is the fire protection product third party certificated and does it match or cover
the submittal provided by the manufacturer or installer?
If not ASFP recommends that only third party certificated products be used which
matches or covers the submittal provided by the manufacturer and you should
Yes/No
change the specification accordingly.
Where a product is used outside its scope of certification then ASFP recommends
that it is subject to a separate evaluation by an appropriate third party such as a
certification body.
6 Has any software package(s) used to generate the required limiting temperature
been accredited or third party certificated?
Yes/No
ASFP only recommends the use of accredited or third party certificated software
packages for the generation of limiting temperatures.
7 Has adequate consideration been given to the special needs of cell beams?
Use of limiting temperatures and design protocol for solid beams for application on
cell beams which require a more complex evaluation. For fire protection Yes/No
considerations for cell beams, refer to the ASFP Cell Beam Register available at
https://is.gd/r6orH8
8 Does the submittal meet all the conditions in the table below
Yes/No

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Some misuses of supporting data are listed below. If you are able, you should check that the
submission under consideration meets the following. If you are not sure you should seek specialist
guidance e.g. from a specialist manufacturer or a suitably qualified engineer e.g. chartered engineers
recognised by the Engineering Council or other suitably competent person.

9 Confusion sometimes exists between loadings for 3-sided beams and 4-sided
beams. 3-sided beam loadings are obtained from testing with a concrete slab
above the top of the beam and should only be used when a concrete slab is in
place. Yes/No
4-sided beam loadings are certificated and are derived from column loadings.
You should check that the submittal only uses 3-sided beam loadings in situations
where a concrete slab is above the top flange.
10 Because of the effects of geometry, hollow sections typically require a greater
thickness of application than an I section of equivalent massivity. Hollow section
loadings of the appropriate shape should be used for the correct application. It is
Yes/No
definitely unconservative to use I section loadings for hollow sections.
You should ensure that the submittal uses data for an appropriate section shape in
each instance and does not mix I section data with hollow section application.
11
I section column data can be used for I section columns, pre-formed channels,
tees and angles, provided they are within the scope of the assessment. However,
this data should not be used for other types of scenario, such as large flat plates. Yes/No
You should ensure that the certification covers the sections used in practice, or that
other ad hoc testing is available.
12 Have suitable limiting temperatures been used in respect of protection to portal
frame rafters? When coating portal frame rafters, it is appropriate to use 4-sided
beam loadings, as there is no concrete floor slab. It is recognised that is not
always possible to paint the top outer face, and if this occurs, advice should be
Yes/No
sought to ensure the steel is not under protected.
If you are not sure you should take advice from a specialist manufacturer or a
suitably qualified engineer e.g. chartered engineers recognised by the Engineering
Council or other suitably competent person
13 Product certification will cover certain limits, such as maximum dry film thickness,
section factor and time period. These certificated limits are based upon the scope
of the testing carried out. It is not possible to safely exceed these limits.
You should ensure that these limits are not exceeded. If they are, you should seek Yes/No
advice from a specialist manufacturer or a suitably qualified engineer e.g.
chartered engineers recognised by the Engineering Council or other suitably
competent person
14 It is conservative to assume that a steel member is designed at 100% of its
utilisation. Conversely it is unsafe to use a lower utilisation level without a proven
structural model from the project design team, as it could lead to unacceptable
and unproven lower levels of protection. You should make sure that any reduction Yes/No
in steel utilisation has been properly evaluated. In these situations, you should take
advice from a specialist manufacturer or a suitably qualified engineer e.g. chartered
engineers recognised by the Engineering Council or other suitably competent person

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 FLOW CHART FOR DETERMINING LIMITING TEMPERATURES

Have you got a project

specific design from a Yes
recognised structural
engineer?

No

Do you know the Design Eurocode? Do you know the

Yes Yes
Code? occupancy type?

No No Yes No

No Is it BS 5950?

Yes

500oC for all Table 18 of Table 16 of Table 17 of

sections (except ASFP Yellow ASFP Yellow ASFP Yellow
class 4 sections) Book 5 Book 5 Book 5

Use limiting
temperature from
project specific design
Notes

1. Cellular beams are excluded from this flowchart

2. Only Carbon steel is covered here e.g. aluminium must be considered separately
3. For Class 4 sections, the Eurocodes advise a limiting steel temperature of 350oC in the
absence of a more detailed calculation

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 ANNEX 2 – EXAMPLE OF BID SUBMITTAL FOR DESIGNERS/SPECIFIERS

Sample Bid Submittal

Project Name Project XYZ

Submittal by ABC Contractor

Project Reference ABCD1234
Customer Client ABC

Date Created 24/04/2017

Product Standard EN13381/8

Design Code EC3 & EC4

Ref Section Details Fire Protection

Designation Category / Occupancy Cellular Exp Data Type Limiting Temp (°C) LT Source A/V F/R Product Cert Ref DFT (µ)
1 700x150x8x6 B - Office Yes 3Sides Beam PSD PSD 258 60 min ABC123 C12345 1000
2 700x200x15x10 D - Shopping Yes 3Sides Beam PSD PSD 200 90 min ABC123 C12345 1575
3 406*140*46UKB B - Office No 3Sides Beam 576 T 16 205 120 min ABC123 C12345 1600
4 254*254*73UKC B - Office No 4Sides Column 563 T 16 160 45 min ABC123 C12345 330
5 IPE330 B - Office No 4Sides Column 563 T 16 200 75 min ABC123 C12345 1105
6 IPE330 B - Office No 4Sides Beam 563 T 16 200 75 min ABC123 C12345 830
7 HEB160 B - Office No 4Sides Column 563 T 16 169 105 min ABC123 C12345 2400
8 IPE240 B - Office No 4Sides Column 563 T 16 236 105 min ABC123 C12345 n/a
9 137.9*8 CHS B - Office No All Round Column 547 T 16 133 90 min ABC123 C12345 4055
10 137.9*8 CHS B - Office No All Round Column 547 T 16 133 120 min ABC123 C12345 n/a
11 200*200*8 SHS Not known No 4Sides Column 515 T 17 127 90 min ABC123 C12345 3300

Notes
Item Reference # 6 has WRONGLY used Beam Data (in lieu of Column Data) - Note the reduction in DFT (over 30%), this is NOT an acceptable nor safe solution, item reference # 5 above is the correct solution
Item Reference # 8 has no DFT Available, due to the high A/V being out of range of the product, the use of a "maximum DFT" or an unsubstantiated high critical temperature should NOT be an accepted alternative
Item Reference # 10 has no DFT Available, due to the high fire resistance requirement being out of range of the product
The use of an assumed "under utilisation" should NOT be an accepted alternative for the above point unless values are provided by the project design engineers
DFT/WFT denoted "n/a" = Not Available
In column "Limiting Temp" PSD denotes "Project Specific Design", this will be provided either by the project design team &/or from specialised accredited design software
Column "LT Source" referes to the Limiting Temperature source. This refers to the relevant Table withing the current version of the ASFP Yellow Book
Item Reference # 11 is shown with an unknown occupancy and as such uses the alternative Table 17 Limiting Temperature