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AITA? Fire stops

I

Inspector Gadget

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Mar 5, 2020
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New Brunswick
I have a Canadian part 3 building, not too huge (715m2, so roughly 7,000 ft2.) It's got fire separations, and interior load-bearing walls that require fire ratings.

The documents only show general blah-blah about "y'all gotta firestop," but I'm really having problems with fire stop installations, and I'm leaning to asking for submittal documents that demonstrate what fire stop system will be used where.

AITA?
 
If you are having problems the only way to get ahead of them is to sometimes...BTA (be the a$$). On simple projects I let (assume) the inspectors handle it in the field. On larger more complicated projects I ask for submittal details, usually deferred is better because whatever they send you in design will likely not match what is ultimately used. As an inspector when I saw a penetration I would ask for the system sheets. Most of the time I got blank stares, but eventually they could come up with them. ASTM E2174 is a a handy document to use for guidance for inspecting and documentation. As a plan reviewer asking up front really just alerted everyone that the inspector should be doing this. Whether it happens or not???
 
Legally, you can ask for anything you want.

If it's a simple building, where penetrations are straightforward, I would be OK with deferred submittals.

Larger and/or complex projects I asked for them up-front.
 
@Firestop Guy
This is a huge issue in the industry and it is only getting worse the longer we coddle them… that being said I always get less than I want and it is always a struggle in the field. I do require SI on multistory wood, and when the SI grossly underperforms, they are never allowed to work in the jurisdiction again…
 
On bigger projects, I have asked for the GC to put together a binder of various firestop system, organized by trade that is performing the firestopping (i.e. M, E P, etc.) They would get the info from their subs and send it my way. As the project progresses and additional unanticipated conditions arise or engineering judgments come up, the trades had these new listings ready at time of inspection and they would go into the binder. On smaller projects where some GC's/trades didn't know what a fire stop system is, I would point them to a couple of the big companies that produce firestop products, and they would coordinate and get a rep sent out to the building who could create a submittal for the project.
 
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