Passive Fire litigation and Expert Witness

Passive Fire Protection in buildings has been a requirement for decades; it has been included in the building code since 1992 but was also covered in NZS 1900.5 (Chapter 5) in 1963.  However, its awareness and enforcement started most recently after the Grenfell Tower fire, and it has been common for buildings with leaking and weather-tightness issues to expose hundreds or thousands of defects related to Passive Fire. These items commonly require to be rectified, especially when affecting a safe path (such as stairwells) and escape routes, which can generate great unexpected costs for the building owners.

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We are frequently called upon to assist with determining compliance aspects and performance of fire safety systems involving Fire Engineering designs and Passive Fire Protection. This also includes regularly being requested by insurance companies and loss adjusters to inspect buildings and provide opinions regarding the work performed by installers, consultants and the designer team during the construction of the building.

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Our decades of experience successfully working with most of the country’s top Law firms, Loss Adjusters, and Insurance companies provides us with the expertise to assist with a wide range of Passive Fire investigations and provide clear, concise reports on our findings.

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Our capability to provide passive fire protection advice based on fire engineering fundamentals allows us to propose compliant alternatives to reduce construction or reinstatement costs without compromising the safety of the building occupants. This approach has proven to be crucial in litigation cases.