In 2010, TECL became one of the first fire stopping contractors in the UK to record every installation digitally: photographed, located and signed off seal by seal. That was eight years before the Hackitt Review made a “golden thread” of building safety information a national expectation. Since then, we’ve installed more than 5 million fire stopping seals.
The problem we saw first
Fire stopping has a habit of disappearing. Once the ceiling goes up or the riser is boarded, the seals that hold a building’s compartments together are hidden from view. On paper-based jobs, nobody could prove what was behind that board: which product was used, whether it matched a tested detail, or who installed it.
The result was familiar to anyone in construction. Gaps were found at inspection, ceilings came down for rework, and handover packs were thin on evidence. Worse still, some gaps were never found at all.
When TECL was founded in Leeds in 2009, we set out to do fire stopping differently. That meant making sure every seal we installed left evidence behind it.
Going digital in 2010
Within a year of starting out, our operatives were recording their work in software rather than on paper. Every penetration was photographed, located on the drawings and logged against the product and tested system used. Each record was signed off by the person who installed it.
Main contractors got something they hadn’t had before: a complete, searchable record of the fire stopping on their project, ready for building control, the O&M manual and the client. More than 5 million seals later, that is still how we work on every job.
Helping shape the industry’s tools
Good software needs to understand the work it records. Our site teams worked closely with compliance software company BORIS to turn the details of fire stopping into a workflow operatives could use on a live site. Those details included substrates, service types, tested systems, fire ratings and the evidence an inspector needs to see.
BORIS went on to become the go-to software for recording fire stopping across the industry. We’re proud that the knowledge of our operatives helped shape it.
Then the industry caught up
After the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety (2018) called for a “golden thread” of accurate, up-to-date information about how a building is designed, built and maintained.
The Building Safety Act 2022 then put the golden thread into law for higher-risk buildings. For many contractors, digital installation records became a new obligation. For TECL, they had been standard practice for more than a decade.
What it means on your project
- Every seal recorded. Photo, location, product, tested detail and installer are logged on site as the work happens, ready for your O&M manual and the golden thread.
- Our own people. More than 70 directly employed, fully trained operatives. We don’t use labour-only gangs, so the team that quotes is the team that installs.
- Tested systems only. We use products from approved manufacturers, installed exactly to their tested details, with fire ratings of up to four hours.
- Independently certified. We’re third-party certified under LPS 1531 and FIRAS, and we issue an LPCB or FIRAS certificate for the job, whichever the client prefers.
Find out more about our fire stopping and acoustic sealing and fire door services.
TECL in numbers
- 5 million+ fire stopping seals installed
- 2010: recording installations digitally since then
- 70+ directly employed, fully trained operatives
- Up to 4 hours of fire resistance installed
What our clients say
“The client has been particularly impressed by the fact that they have not yet found fault with any location that they have inspected and have cited this as a first in their experience.”
John, TECL client
“Management and supervisors respond quickly to the needs of the project. Excellent record keeping on all seals.”
John, TECL client
“We received some very good feedback from building control on how good the fire stopping works look.”
Shaun, on Newsome Academy
Ready for the golden thread? We have been since 2010.
If you need fire stopping that is installed right and fully evidenced, talk to TECL. Call 0113 243 0254, email [email protected] or contact us for advice or a free quote.