AIM Acoustic & Insulation Manufacturing’s Raised Access Floor Barrier is designed to prevent the passage of fire and smoke through underfloor cavities. By subdividing large uninterrupted cavities, the barrier reportedly provides up to 120 minutes insulation and integrity. It can also reduce room-to- room airborne sound through floor voids by at least 50db, says AIM.
Incorporating raised access floors in newbuilds and refurbishment projects as means of providing space for services, such as electricity and data cables, is now standard practice, but the space below the floor can risk the rapid spread of fire and smoke.
Cavity barriers are required within buildings to subdivide a large high risk area into smaller, more manageable fire compartments. These fire compartments slow down the spread of fire within a building allowing time for the occupants to escape and to provide safe access for firefighting personnel. Depending on the purpose group of the building, the buildings height and the regulatory standards, a fire strategy will be created. Cavity barriers are built into the structure of the building to maintain the required fire performance in line with the fire strategy.
The requirement for cavity barriers is detailed in government statutory guidance on fire safety – Approved Document B England, Technical Guidance Document B Ireland, Technical Booklet E Northern Ireland, and Technical Standards Scotland.
AIM’s Raised Access Floor Barrier is designed for the subdivision of large uninterrupted cavities. It has reportedly been tested to EN 1366-4 standards and to the principles of TR31 and provides up to 120 minutes integrity. AIM provides a range of solutions – 75mm, 100mm and 125mm thick product variants provide insulation for 30, 60 and 120 minutes respectively* to suit the designer’s requirement. It also achieves the Euroclass rating of A1, non-combustible.
Says the company: ‘An added benefit of the AIM Raised Access Floor Barrier is that it reduces airborne sound through underfloor voids. Acoustic tests to BS EN ISO 10848-2 (2017) show that it can achieve at least a 50db room-to-room airborne sound reduction when used in-conjunction with a Kingspan Raised Access floor system.
‘The AIM Raised Access Floor Barrier is straightforward to install, during construction and retrospectively. When aligned under a partition it can be used to maintain partition rating. It can also be used to create a plenum chamber.’
The company continues: ‘Made from high density Rockwool stone wool slab, faced with a printed Class 0 impervious foil on both sides which helps identify the product, the barrier is available cut to size or in slabs suitable for cutting onsite. It’s installed dry with ‘L’ shaped fixing clips.
‘The AIM product allows for power and communications to be run below the barrier. Up to five CAT5e cables or up to five 2.5mm three core PVC power cables can be dressed below the barrier without a requirement for special intumescent collars or pillows. Where cables pass below the cavity barrier, and for sealing imperfections in the substrate, AIM system components require an acrylic fire rated intumescent mastic. A foil tape is available for sealing joints.’
‘This simple approach makes our Raised Access Floor Fire Barrier an ideal choice for retrospective installation during upgrade works where cabling cannot be cut or broken, providing that the cables can be bunched together,’ explained Ian Exall, AIM’s commercial director.
A data sheet for the Raised Access Floor Barrier, including fixing instructions, can be found at:
