Floors and walls: compare each permitted firestop configuration
The crew has completed the wall openings and reaches the same service passing through a floor. Its material is familiar, but the assembly and available installation side have changed. The foreman must compare the floor configuration rather than copying the previous wall instruction.
A system may cover both a floor and a wall, or only one; read what the complete reference actually permits. The same service does not establish the same configuration. Compare assembly construction and thickness, orientation, application sides and required ratings separately. Do not turn common floor and wall arrangements into universal one-sided or two-sided rules.
Check the horizontal and vertical conditions separately
- Identify the assembly first. Link each opening to its actual floor or wall reference, construction and thickness. Confirm any hollow-core or other distinct assembly with the appropriate records and people. A location described simply as concrete does not establish every system’s assembly conditions.
- Read the permitted configurations. Check whether the proposed system covers the actual orientation and service. RectorSeal’s public C-AJ-1087 example distinguishes its floor and wall assembly descriptions and the surfaces receiving packing and fill. Those differences belong to that system; they do not establish rules for every firestop opening.
- Check sides and access together. Identify where the complete accepted arrangement requires work and inspection, then confirm safe access to those locations. Difficulty reaching the other side does not permit a different placement. Raise the access problem as a review question before the crew substitutes the easier side.
- Compare the required and stated ratings. Obtain the actual project requirements through the specification and qualified review, then compare them with the complete applicable configuration. Do not assume a rating letter is irrelevant because another project omitted it, or infer Canadian acceptance from a similar foreign detail.
- Issue distinct located instructions where needed. Keep the same reference only when its complete permitted configuration actually covers each condition. Record differences clearly on the opening schedule and current field issue. Verify the required stages and preserve any later assembly or service changes for a new comparison.
Common mistakes
- Assuming every wall reference must be a different floor reference.
- Assuming every floor uses only top-side application.
- Treating an accepted wall condition as acceptance of the floor.
Checklist
Complete each orientation comparison
- Actual assembly and thickness identified.
- Orientation and service permitted.
- Required sides and safe access confirmed.
- Actual ratings compared through qualified review.
- Each located status and verification recorded.
Check your understanding
The reference’s title says floor or wall. Can the crew copy the wall work straight onto the floor?
