Situation
The Nebraska Medical Center is a large teaching facility that is part of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In 2015, management was faced with bringing its firestopping system into compliance after issues had been discovered by the state fire marshal. According to Justin Duffield, Barrier Management Senior Associate, Nebraska Medical Center, existing barriers for cable penetrations needed to be retrofitted to code and a system established to track each location and implement a permit process to track all data for future construction.
Solution
Life-safety systems are vital components of daily operations in healthcare settings. However, firestop is widely recognized as a problematic issue for facilities engineering professionals, especially with the constant changes made to voice and data cabling. Nebraska Medical Center personnel realized they needed a firestop partner that could provide information to aid engineering decisions, including UL system information, as well as innovative firestopping technology that could be safely installed in an environment where possible contaminants must be contained.
“STI was chosen over a couple of other companies, because they offered a complete solution to our firestopping needs,” said Duffield. “STI also offered their Electronic Barrier Management Program™ (eBMP) program, which was exactly what we needed because Nebraska Medicine had no way to track cabling moves, adds, and changes. STI’s eBMP helped control the work process, and the management of firestopping penetration. It was a great improvement in maintaining our fire barriers. To date, we have over 47,000 recorded penetrations on 24 miles of barriers. eBMP allows us to quickly bring up data on who created the penetration, which project, when it was created, who repaired it, and what UL method was used to correct the penetration. This has helped us with CMS, The Joint Commission, and Certificate of Occupancy surveys. With eBMP we could quickly answer any question our surveyors asked about any penetrations in our 7 million square feet facilities.
Duffield explained that the easy installation and maintenance-free features of EZ-Path were important considerations. EZ-Path:
- Allows remote cable pulls through multiple barriers
- Reduces unnecessary trips above the ceiling
- Limits liability and decreases exposure to pathogens
- Eliminates ongoing fire- and smoke-sealing costs
- Ends downstream maintenance and inspection costs
Regarding maintenance, UL® issued an Evaluation Report for EZ-Path Fire-rated Pathways, confirming code compliance with the International Building Code®, International Fire Code®, and NFPA 101, Life Safety Code®. The report confirmed that, when properly installed, EZ-Path Pathways are exempt from ongoing maintenance. The freedom from ongoing maintenance can make EZ-Path a more economical choice than other firestopping brands.
Providing training was another important part of the solution. At the start of the project, everyone involved with the barrier remediation, including the general contractor, was trained in STI’s FIT (Firestop Instructional Training), Level 1 program. “The FIT training was comprehensive,” said Duffield. “They detailed why firestop is needed, firestop testing, UL systems per install, product applications, product options, and other information that helped everyone fully understand how firestopping should be practiced.”
Results
The barrier remediation was successful, and Nebraska Medical Center now has a living life-safety document that provides a complete solution to its barriers. This will help keep the building compliant moving forward. With all the firestop penetrations logged with a bar code, correct UL System, and date of installation, state fire marshal inspections are seamless.
Since the completion of this article, Specified Technologies Inc (STI) has introduced the Firestop Locator app to further enhance fire barrier protocol communications. The Firestop Locator app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
