Google quickly brought up this document. I am sure there are plenty more

http://www.maconline.org...ratings/fire1/fire1.html

The authoritative guide is probably BS EN 1996-1-2, which has a load of tables of thickness v. fire resistance for various configurations of wall. I have the standard, but masonry isn't my thing, and from a quick glance it requires some knowledge and/or detailed reading to decide which of the many tables apply to a given wall.

Someone familiar with the standard could probably tell you quite quickly (ie, without detailed analysis, since it seems that most situations can be handled by reference to the tabulated values), but that's not me, sorry.

Fairly sure the time is about how long the wall can be trusted to maintain it's integrity and provide a physical barrier to smoke flame, it's never going to hold the heat back that long.

Hi Chris

Having read some of the posts there is some uncertainty with this, without stating the obvious the degree of severity can vary considerably with this in terms of speed it accelerates we do know you do not have long to empty the buildings.

A safe bet is to seek advice from your local fire officer, they are usually happy to help and can provide a wealth of information.

john

Hi Chris,

I'd ask the inspectors to justify their observation. If it's for the protection of the building occupants from the oil tank (and I'm assuming that's heating oil) I'd then ask how they imagine that oil might catch fire.

Perhaps a stupid question but are there any doors or windows in the wall and in proximity of the oil tank?

Chris - I am a little concerned that this is another example of an assessor going a little OTT, with little regards to the cost and true risk

A statutory fire risk assessment (as required by the Fire Safety Order etc) is wholly about the protection of life. From what you are saying, the risk appears low in that the evacuation time is a minute and means of escape are plentiful. Plus there are no openings on the wall on the tank side of the building.

I would also ask what is the risk of ignition to the tank? Is it heating oil?

I agree with the earlier poster that you need to ask for a justification for why this has been added to the report. It seems completely over the top to me

Good luck

I'm not sure if the tank holds heating oil or not - but before explosion rating gets dragged into the conversation, as mssy says, lets keep it sensible. Blast rating of walls gets complicated.

For an explosion with heating oil, takes some doing - its simply not that volatile - obviously it will burn, but as a bulk liquid not easily ignited or does it give much vapour off. The flash point is likely to be in excess of 200-250*C.

You would need a strong source of ignition to get it going.

Then you might need to start thinking of ATEX rating and hazardous area classification etc

The plot thickens

Planning approved Document J 2010 ( as amended 2013) - combustion appliances and fuel storage systems, states :-

Less than 1800mm from any part of the building

a) Make building walls imperforate (1) within 1800mm of tanks with at least 30 minutes fire resistance (2) to internal fire and construct eaves.

(!) Exclude small opening such as air bricks etc
(2) Fire resistance in terms of insulation, integrity and stability as determined by BS 476 or BS EN 1363 or BS EN 1364

( BS476 as noted by Toe above)

So 30 minutes not 60 and you can have a couple of holes in it ie air bricks. However OFTEC seem to recommend 60 minutes, noted on lots of web sites, but can not find it on their own web site. The paperwork the inspector used was an official OFTEC pre printed form which was a tick box type, so if tank within 1.8m then Action 1 or 2 applies

Action 1 is provide a 60 minutes fire rated screen
Action 2 is ensure wall is at least 60 minute fire rated.

Further though, their own document OFTEC_TechnicalBook3_AMD_03_0913_16
indicates a solid 4 inch thick brick wall is good for.... Wait for it..... 120minutes.

My confidence in this assessment is waning rapidly ! But these are supposed to be the experts.

So if you work to the latest building requirements it will not be good enough for OFTEC.

Thanks for everyone's input, not sure what to do now, thinking I may put a note in a file with the report and forget about it.

How many CPD points can I claim for this ?

Chris

Flashpoint of home heating oil (kerosene or diesel) is around 40 to 50 degrees C. The auto ignition (self combustion) point of the oil is likely to be 220-230 degrees C.

Be careful double check all information received. A general rule is to make 1 hr fire rated a minimum. However I am not sure Building Regulations are retrospective although the HSE / Fire would have you believe otherwise.

I think we need to go back to the original question which asks about the fire resistance of a brick wall?

It is about the wall's integrity.

As it appears to be an old wall it could either be very very good or not very good at all.

Plasterboard is currently used as a fire resistant material, one sheet gives half hour and two sheets gives two hours.

One idea could be ro line both sides with a single sheet of plasterboard and as long as it is taped and plastered properly that will give one hour FR on top of what it already allows.

A coat of paint as well and it will also provide a good look to the old wall.

Interesting point, I copied what was written ( except I used and exclamation mark instead of a "1".

I read it that the wall had to be imperforate ( so no perforation / holes) except for things like air bricks. So my interpretation is a wall with an air brick was ok and still met the requirements.

It's on page 63, in the small table.
http://www.planningporta...documents/partj/approved

Chris