Fire Stopping Register & Records

What should the register record for each seal or repair?

• Location reference: a unique reference tied to a floor, room or riser, ideally marked on a floor plan, so anyone can find the seal again.
• Photo before and after: what was there before work started, and the finished seal.
• Product used: the manufacturer and product name of each component, so the seal can be checked against the product's tested application.
• Installer: the company and operative who carried out the work.
• Date: when the work was completed.
• Label: the number on the physical label fixed beside the seal, matching the register entry.
• Certification evidence where held: for example a third-party certification record for the installation, if the installer holds one.

A register can be a spreadsheet, a database or part of a building management system. What matters is that every entry is complete and that it is kept up to date.

Why do these records matter?

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (as amended), the Responsible Person must keep fire safety measures, including compartmentation, maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair. Records are how they show what has been done, and how they spot when something has changed.

For a Fire Risk Assessor, a good register answers questions straight away: has this riser been surveyed? Was that gap repaired? With what? Without records, the assessor can only report what they can see on the day.

In higher-risk buildings, the Building Safety Act 2022 puts a strong emphasis on keeping accurate information about the building. See higher-risk buildings.

What goes wrong without a register?

The most common problem is that nobody knows what has already been done. Contractors are sent to seal penetrations that were repaired last year, while new holes made by a later cable installation go unnoticed. Labels on seals that do not match any record are little help, and photos stored in someone's inbox are lost when they leave.

A register also protects good work. When a seal is found damaged, the record shows what it looked like when it was installed, which helps identify when and how it was disturbed.

How does our survey report feed the register?

Every observation in our fire stopping survey report is photographed, given a location reference and described, with a recommended remedy. Where you provide floor plans, observations are marked on them. That gives you the "before" entry for each location.

The report records what we observed. It is not a certificate and not a works specification, and the Responsible Person decides, with their Fire Risk Assessor, what happens next.

How do labelled remedial works complete the record?

When we carry out fire stopping remedial works, each completed seal is labelled and recorded with its location reference, after photo, products used, installer and date, matching the survey reference where there is one. That completes the entry, so the register shows the whole history of each location: what was found, and what was done.

If other contractors work on the building, ask them to provide the same information, in the same format, so the register stays complete.