Fire Protection Northern Ireland

Building regulations in Northern Ireland set out the fire resistance requirements for commercial buildings in Technical Booklet E, which covers fire safety. The requirements specify the minimum fire resistance period for the elements of structure, compartment walls and floors, and other fire-separating elements, based on the building type, height, and occupancy.

For structural steel buildings, which includes the majority of medium and large commercial buildings constructed in Northern Ireland, achieving the required structural fire resistance means applying a certified fireproofing system to the steel members. This is a mandatory element of building control compliance and is enforced by the district council building control departments across Northern Ireland.

We are familiar with Northern Ireland building control requirements and provide full documentation for all fire protection installations to support building control sign-off.

Belfast is the largest commercial construction market in Northern Ireland. We carry out passive fire protection and structural steel fireproofing on commercial projects in Belfast regularly, including office developments in the city centre and out-of-town business parks, retail and mixed-use schemes, apartment buildings across the city, educational and healthcare facilities, and industrial and logistics buildings across the greater Belfast area.

We are familiar with working within main contractor programmes on large Belfast commercial projects and can provide the programme flexibility and documentation standards required by the major construction companies operating in the city.

Derry is the second city of Northern Ireland and an increasingly active commercial construction market. We carry out fire protection work on commercial buildings in Derry and across the wider north-west of Northern Ireland, including projects on both sides of the border given our location in Tyrone.

Beyond Belfast and Derry we carry out fire protection work on commercial projects across all of Northern Ireland. Regular project locations include Armagh, Newry, Enniskillen, Omagh, Dungannon, Antrim, Ballymena, Lisburn, Newtownabbey, and all smaller towns and rural areas across the six counties.

Northern Ireland has a significant public sector construction programme including schools, health centres, leisure facilities, and housing developments, all of which involve structural fire protection requirements. We work on public sector projects across Northern Ireland and are familiar with the documentation and procurement requirements of the public sector construction environment.

FireShield Ireland is the only licensed Monokote applicator in Ireland, which includes both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Any project in Northern Ireland specifying Monokote for structural steel fireproofing is carried out by our team.

Monokote is well established and widely accepted by building control authorities in Northern Ireland. Full fire resistance certification and installation documentation is provided as standard on every Monokote project.

Full details of the Monokote system are on our Monokote spray application page.

We carry out intumescent coating work on exposed structural steel across Northern Ireland for architects, main contractors, and steel fabricators. Intumescent coatings are the specified system for architectural and visible steelwork where the finish quality of the fire protection is part of the design intent of the building.

Full details are on our intumescent coatings page.

Every fire protection installation we carry out in Northern Ireland is supported by full documentation including product data sheets and certification, fire resistance calculations, installation records, and a completion certificate. This documentation is provided as standard and is required by Northern Ireland district council building control departments for sign-off.

We are available to liaise directly with building control officers on any Northern Ireland project and to attend site inspections where required.