In a recent Q&A on the FacilityCare website, consultant Brad Keyes answered a question about sealing penetrations in smoke barriers.
Q: Our life safety drawings identify the corridors in our hospital as smoke barriers. My question is, do wall penetrations above the dropped ceiling need to be sealed with a fire caulk like products used in one- and two-hour-rated walls?
A: It sounds to me that your corridor walls may be misidentified. What does your drawing say in describing a smoke barrier?
In a hospital, walls that are considered smoke compartment barriers are constructed of one-hour fire-resistive materials and actually subdivide a story into two or more smoke compartments where staff and patients will seek refuge when a fire breaks out in their smoke compartment.
What Does Light Daily Cleaning Miss in Patient Rooms?
Smart Lighting Overhaul Boosts Efficiency, Diagnostics and Wellness at Bryan Health
AdventHealth Opens New Freestanding ER in Florida
Dirty Floors: How Pathogens Can Accumulate and Spread Underfoot
WellSpan Health Opens Its Newberry Hospital in Pennsylvania