Fire Stopping Surveys for Schools, Colleges & Universities

Why do education buildings need fire stopping surveys?

Most school and college sites have grown over time: an original building, later extensions, temporary classrooms that became permanent, and refurbished wings. Each phase brought new services through walls and floors, and each IT upgrade, heating replacement or new science lab has added more. Fire stopping is easily missed or damaged during that work, particularly above suspended ceilings and in plant rooms.

Compartmentation protects escape routes and separates higher-risk areas such as kitchens, workshops, laboratories and plant rooms from the rest of the building.

How do we plan around term dates?

Surveys in teaching areas are easiest during school holidays, half terms and other closure days, and many trusts prefer us to work then. Where a survey has to happen in term time, we agree which areas we can reach before school, after school or while rooms are not in use, and keep noise and disruption to lessons low.

For multi-site trusts, we schedule schools by area across holiday periods so the whole estate can be covered in a planned way.

How do we work with safeguarding requirements?

Every school has its own safeguarding procedures for visitors and contractors. We agree arrangements with each site before we arrive: signing in, identification, escorts where required and the areas we can enter during the school day. When pupils are on site, we work only where and when the school allows.

What about universities and large campuses?

University estates bring different challenges: large numbers of buildings, laboratories with specialist services, student accommodation with sleeping risk, and buildings used late into the evening. We work with estates teams to group buildings, arrange access to laboratories and plant rooms, and schedule student accommodation for vacation periods where possible.

Laboratory and workshop areas may have specific permits or safety inductions, which we complete before surveying.

Where do surveyors usually find problems in education buildings?

• Above suspended ceilings, where data cabling has been added room by room
• Plant rooms and boiler rooms, where pipework has been replaced
• Junctions between original buildings and later extensions
• Service risers and cupboards in corridors
• Roof spaces, where compartment walls should continue up to the roof

What does the trust or estates team receive?

A digital report for every building, in which each observation is photographed, located and described, with a recommended remedy, marked on floor plans where you provide them. Every building follows the same format, so findings can be compared across a trust or campus.

We report what we find; your Responsible Person decides priorities, with their Fire Risk Assessor. For multi-site trusts, see portfolio survey programmes, and for budgeting, see what affects the cost of a survey.