Fireproofing structural steel in commercial buildings: technical and market developments

There is increasing interest in thin film intumescent coatings as passive fireproofing materials for commercial buildings. In part because of the growing use of exposed structural steel in building frames for asthetic and economic purposes. Specifiers are increasingly calling for use of thin film intumescents, and coating manufacturers are adding these materials to their product mix. In this article, the basic technology is described and two recent research studies by Leigh's paints and by Corus (formerly British Steel) are summarized and discussed. Coatings are used for "fireproofing" but the word appears in quotes here because we are not speaking about preventing fire, but rather about delaying structure failure by creating a thermal barrier between the fire and the structural members that support a building or other edifice (stadium or offshore platform for instance).