NYC

Understanding UL Nomenclature for Firestop-Through Penetrations: Part 1

(#3 in a Series)

The UL firestop nomenclature, as you saw in Understanding UL Nomenclature for Firestop-Rated Joints  is a series of letters and numbers. It is a sort of ABC’s and 123’s of firestop installation systems. The joints are very much straight forward. The through penetrations are slightly more involved because you are dealing with the various MEPS (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire-Sprinkler) trades and subsequently, a lot more variability than is found with joints. The good news is that the first letter and the first number are the most important things to focus on. This makes it a little easier to understand.

The first letter will be one of 3 letters W, F or C. W stands for wall (I told you it was easy) F stands for floor and C stands for combination. This means that the assembly can be either a floor or a wall. However, if you want to remember that it stands for concrete you will be very close because concrete is the only construction material typically used for both floors and walls and the UL listed details that start with C can be used both for floor applications as well as wall applications. The other letters give you more information about the assembly. For example WL is a framed gypsum wall WJ is a concrete or block wall, FC is for stick built construction and FA would be a concrete floor 8” thick or less.

A, B, C, J and L are the key ones you will deal with. If you want more specifics here is the actual break-down:

A = Concrete floors less than or equal to 5 inches thick
B = Concrete floors greater than 5 inches thick
C = Framed Floors
D = Steel Decks

E = Floor Ceiling assemblies consisting of concrete with membrane penetrations (update 3/2/2019)

F-I = Not Used
J = Concrete or Masonry Wall less than or equal to 8 inches thick
K = Concrete or Masonry Wall less greater than 8 inches thick
L = Framed Walls
M = Bulkheads Marine
N-Z = Not Used

The numbers get a little more in-depth and we will get into that in Part 2.

Sign up now for notification of new blog posts.

Halpert Life Safety Consulting LLC’s

“Saving Lives for the Life of your Building” TM

Our mission is to make a colossal impact on the level of life safety of your building and on the talent of your people. We provide consultation, training, quality control and third party special inspection related to firestop and passive fire protection. We consult for the building industry in the New York/New Jersey (NY/NJ) metropolitan area, as well as across the United States and internationally.

Understanding UL Nomenclature for Firestop-Rated Joints

Welcome back! I’m excited that you believe knowing the UL nomenclature for firestop is important enough to learn about! If you are a firestop inspectors, general contractor or first tier subcontractors who have hired firestoppers, know that by the end of this series you will have a few tips on how to make your job easier and command better quality from your firestop installers. If you are a firestop installer this blog series will help you prepare for an educated inspector or general contractor and help raise you head and shoulders above your competition. These tips we will share are only effective once you know how to identify the details. Let’s get started making your life easier.

I will take it easy on you for the first bit and we will start with the rated joints.

UNDERSTANDING UL NOMENCLATURE FOR FIRESTOP- RATED JOINTS

When you are looking at the UL details for rated joints, there will be a combination of two letters, then a third letter followed by a series of four numbers. Once you are finished reading this blog you will understand the nomenclature or naming system for the UL listed firestop systems for rated firestop joints. You will know what all of the letters and numbers mean, and you will be able to thumb through a firestop submittal easily and find the detail you need for the application you are about to install or inspect (this last step may take a little practice, but if you care enough to read this far then you are smart enough to figure it out quickly.)

Understanding the UL nomenclature for rated joints is easy once someone explains it to you. When you see F think floor, when you see W think wall. This means that an FF system is a floor to floor-joint application, a WW system is for a wall to wall joint application and an FW is for a floor to wall application. HW is a head of wall application and if you need it BW is for a bottom of wall joint. There are also CW or CEJ for Curtain Wall joints but they are tested to a different standard so we won’t really go into it here. Link to category 7-firestopping for glazing industry

Then, there will be a third letter; either a D or an S. D is for a dynamic system; which means the system was tested to allow for movement. We will get into the details of how it is tested, why it is important and much more in a later blog. So lets keep going. If the third letter is an S, then it is a system tested for a static joint system; which means it was not tested for movement. Most all buildings will experience movement, whether it is from live load, dead load, wind load, thermal load, seismic load or who knows what else. Therefore, it is in the best interests of the team to be very careful about when and where they allow the use of static systems.

Next will be a series of numbers, but the first digit will be the most important. If the number series starts with a 1 then the joint will be 2” or less, if it starts with a 1 then it will be more than 2” but less than 6”, if it starts with a 2 then the joint will be more than 6” and less than 12” and so on.

When you understand the UL nomenclature you can easily rifle through the firestop submittal to find the right group of firestop details that should be used to install or inspect the firestop application. Someone well versed in the nomenclature can tell you that a duct through a rated gypsum wall should be installed according to a WL 7000 series detail. They can’t tell you what material, what size duct, if it is insulated or bare, what annular space is allowed or even if retaining angle will be required; without finding the actual detail. However, this basic information will get you to the right group of details much faster and from there you can go over the specifics to make sure the field condition appropriately complies with the UL listed assembly. In a later blog we will actually dissect a few details to help you better understand the layout.

Next we will go over the UL nomenclature for through penetrations.

Sign up now for notification of new blog posts.

Halpert Life Safety Consulting LLC’s

“Saving Lives for the Life of your Building” TM

Our mission is to make a colossal impact on the level of life safety of your building and on the talent of your people. We provide consultation, training, quality control and third party special inspection related to firestop and passive fire protection. We consult for the building industry in the New York/New Jersey (NY/NJ) metropolitan area, as well as across the United States and internationally.

Learning the firestop UL nomenclature will save you time!

Are you an inspector or installer of firestop materials? Do you work with one? If so, I’ve got some information you NEED to know. First, if you are easily offended, then PLEASE stop reading, because I’m about to be brutally honest with you. If you do not understand the firestop industry’s UL nomenclature (the naming system for firestop details), then I would respectfully challenge whether or not you are doing your job to the best of your ability. The good news is, I’m on your side and I want to help. I am passionate about sharing this knowledge because I think it will only serve to improve the construction industry and make safer buildings. An added benefit is that it will help mitigate your construction liability. If you are ready to learn a little more, join me for the next few blog posts discussing how to understand the UL numbering system.

The UL nomenclature is the ABC’s and 123’s of firestop tested assemblies. There are other testing agencies, but UL (Underwriters Laboratories) is the predominantly accepted testing agency for through penetration firestop assemblies, as well as construction rated joints and perimeter containment. Since UL is the biggest name, understanding the naming system they use (the nomenclature) is important. Lucky for you, it is simple too.

But first; let’s discuss why it is important for you to understand the nomenclature. If you are installing the firestop material, you need to know which set of direction to use. This will ensure the installation is going to function as expected and actually stop fire and smoke from spreading prematurely through the building.

If you are inspecting firestop installations, you need to be able to find the correct UL listed assembly in order to conduct any inspection properly, otherwise you are just guessing if it is right. The problem with that, is that if it is done wrong and the inspector doesn’t notice, then the installer assumes they have done a good job and so does everyone else on the project team. This weakens the entire industry because it is accidently promoting poor workmanship and not through laziness, but through lack of knowledge. This blog post is an attempt to change your knowledge level and with your help, ultimately I want to change the industry.

If I have convinced you that you need to know more about the UL nomenclature, then read on. We will start to talk about what the letters and numbers mean and how you can use this knowledge to your advantage.

Sign up now for notification of new blog posts.

Halpert Life Safety Consulting LLC’s

“Saving Lives for the Life of your Building” TM

Our mission is to make a colossal impact on the level of life safety of your building and on the talent of your people. We provide consultation, training, quality control and third party special inspection related to firestop and passive fire protection. We consult for the building industry in the New York/New Jersey (NY/NJ) metropolitan area, as well as across the United States and internationally.

Protecting Grease Ducts

Welcome to this section of our firestop blog where we will discuss the protection requirements of kitchen grease exhaust systems. If you are a building owner, designer, mechanical contractor, insulator or inspector you will find this blog section very useful as we cover some common issues and we find on projects all over the country and internationally. We have worked on projects all over the US and internationally so our breadth of experience will likely be an asset to your next project, whether you hire us to help make sure it runs smoothly or if you just stay tuned to this blog in order to improve your own work. This is Halpert Life Safety, where we focus on “Saving Lives for the Life of the Building.”TM If you are a contractor who subs out the firestop scope, you still carry the liability of your subs work so you may want to know a little about it, and this blog is designed to do just that! If you self perform your firestop scope you definitely should stay tuned because this blog will help you reduce your companies liability on your projects. If you are a building inspector, third party special inspector, you will want to keep tabs on this blog as well and we would love to hear what you like or what you think we should add. If you want to be a guest blogger then by all means let us know.

Firestopping for Glazing Industry

Welcome to this section of our firestop blog where we will discuss firestop information related to both the glaziers scope of work. This is a unique application with its own test criterion and its very unique applications, complications and code requirements. The unique nature of some of your more complex projects make a partnership with Halpert Life Safety very beneficial. We will go over some common firestop issues with these trades. Our focus with this blog is to educate the construction industry on firestop and improve the level of life safety on all buildings. We have worked on projects all over the US and internationally so our breadth of experience will likely be an asset to your next project, whether you hire us to help make sure it runs smoothly or if you just stay tuned to this blog in order to improve your own work. This is Halpert Life Safety, where we focus on “Saving Lives for the Life of the Building.”TM If you are a contractor who subs out the firestop scope, you still carry the liability of your subs work so you may want to know a little about it, and this blog is designed to do just that! If you self perform your firestop scope you definitely should stay tuned because this blog will help you reduce your companies liability on your projects. If you are a building inspector, third party special inspector, you will want to keep tabs on this blog as well and we would love to hear what you like or what you think we should add. If you want to be a guest blogger then by all means let us know.

Firestopping for Rated Joints – Masons and Drywallers

Welcome to this section of our firestop blog where we will discuss firestop information related to both the masons and drywall contractors scope of work. This work is relatively easy to do, but it is also very easy to do wrong. We will go over some common firestop issues with these trades. Our focus with this blog is to educate the construction industry on firestop and improve the level of life safety on all buildings. We have worked on projects all over the US and internationally so our breadth of experience will likely be an asset to your next project, whether you hire us to help make sure it runs smoothly or if you just stay tuned to this blog in order to improve your own work. This is Halpert Life Safety, where we focus on “Saving Lives for the Life of the Building.”TM If you are a contractor who subs out the firestop scope, you still carry the liability of your subs work so you may want to know a little about it, and this blog is designed to do just that! If you self perform your firestop scope you definitely should stay tuned because this blog will help you reduce your companies liability on your projects. If you are a building inspector, third party special inspector, you will want to keep tabs on this blog as well and we would love to hear what you like or what you think we should add. If you want to be a guest blogger then by all means let us know.

Let’s get started with our first key information segment. In order to know how to look critically at firestop you have to understand some basic information about the UL listed assemblies. So please start here

Firestop- Sprinkler Contractors

Welcome to this section of our firestop blog where we will discuss general information related to firestop fire sprinkler contractors scope of work. Some of these posts will be repeated on the other trades segments because they are relevant there as well. Our focus with this blog is to educate the construction industry on firestop and improve the level of life safety on all buildings. We have worked on projects all over the US and internationally so our breadth of experience will likely be an asset to your next project, whether you hire us to help make sure it runs smoothly or if you just stay tuned to this blog in order to improve your own work. This is Halpert Life Safety where we focus on “Saving Lives for the Life of the Building.”TM If you are a contractor who subs out the firestop scope, you still carry the liability of your subs work so you may want to know a little about it, and this blog is designed to do just that! If you self perform your firestop scope you definitely should stay tuned because this blog will help you reduce your companies liability on your projects. If you are a building inspector, third party special inspector, you will want to keep tabs on this blog as well and we would love to hear what you like or what you think we should add. If you want to be a guest blogger then by all means let us know.

Let’s get started with our first key information segment. In order to know how to look critically at firestop you have to understand some basic information about the UL listed assemblies. So please start here

Plumbing Contractors

Welcome to this section of our firestop blog where we will discuss general information related to firestop plumbing contractors scope of work. Some of these posts will be repeated on the other trades segments because they are relevant there as well. Our focus with this blog is to educate the construction industry on firestop and improve the level of life safety on all buildings. We have worked on projects all over the US and internationally so our breadth of experience will likely be an asset to your next project, whether you hire us to help make sure it runs smoothly or if you just stay tuned to this blog in order to improve your own work. This is Halpert Life Safety where we focus on “Saving Lives for the Life of the Building.”TM If you are a contractor who subs out the firestop scope, you still carry the liability of your subs work so you may want to know a little about it, and this blog is designed to do just that! If you self perform your firestop scope you definitely should stay tuned because this blog will help you reduce your companies liability on your projects. If you are a building inspector, third party special inspector, you will want to keep tabs on this blog as well and we would love to hear what you like or what you think we should add. If you want to be a guest blogger then by all means let us know. Let’s get started with our first key information segment. In order to know how to look critically at firestop you have to understand some basic information about the UL listed assemblies. So please start here

Electrical and Low Voltage Contractors

Welcome to this section of our firestop blog where we will discuss general information related to firestop electrical contractors scope of work. Some of these posts will be repeated on the other trades segments because they are relevant there as well. Our focus with this blog is to educate the construction industry on firestop and improve the level of life safety on all buildings. We have worked on projects all over the US and internationally so our breadth of experience will be an asset to your next project, whether you hire us to help make sure it runs smoothly or if you just stay tuned to this blog in order to improve your own work. This is Halpert Life Safety where we focus on “Saving Lives for the Life of the Building.”TM If you are a contractor who subs out the firestop scope, you still carry the liability of your subs work so you may want to know a little about it, and this blog is designed to do just that! If you self perform your firestop scope you definitely should stay tuned because this blog will help you reduce your companies liability on your projects. If you are a building inspector, third party special inspector, you will want to keep tabs on this blog as well and we would love to hear what you like or what you think we should add. If you want to be a guest blogger then by all means let us know. Let’s get started with our first key information segment. In order to know how to look critically at firestop you have to understand some basic information about the UL listed assemblies. So please start here

General Firestop Information

Welcome to this section of our firestop blog where we will discuss general information related to firestop, but not specific to any single trade. We will cover information on testing, differences in firestop materials and any other topics you might want to suggest to us. Our focus with this blog is to educate the construction industry on firestop and improve the level of life safety on all buildings. We have worked on projects all over the US and internationally so our breadth of experience will be an asset to your next project, whether you hire us to help make sure it runs smoothly or if you just stay tuned to this blog in order to improve your own work. This is Halpert Life Safety, where we focus on “Saving Lives for the Life of the Building.”TM If you are a contractor who subs out the firestop scope, you still carry the liability of your subs work so you may want to know a little about it, and this blog is designed to do just that! If you self perform your firestop scope you definitely should stay tuned because this blog will help you reduce your companies liability on your projects. If you are a building inspector, third party special inspector, you will want to keep tabs on this blog as well and we would love to hear what you like or what you think we should add. If you want to be a guest blogger then by all means let us know.