Can intumescent paints be used for the fire protection of beams at the heads of compartment walls or fire resisting walls?
A generic answer can be provided. Yes, intumescent coatings can usually provide the necessary structural fire protection to the steel beam/section. N.B.Where any fire separating wall forms a junction with the steel structure, there may also be a need to satisfy the fire integrity and insulation criteria of the entire fire wall division, so additional protection may be required to the steel section to meet these additional criteria, and/or to address any firestopping requirement between the junction of the protected steelwork and the wall itself. Where the steel beam is at right angles to the fire resisting wall, additional firestopping is likely to be required to close the path to passage of fire in any space created in the web of the steel beam, and above or below the beam. For any further guidance on fire integrity and insulation criteria consult Building Control.
