Fire stopping and fire compartment integrity are essential to building safety. Solibri supports rule-based model checking workflows that help project teams review fire safety design information, including fire compartments, fire-rated elements, and service penetrations, directly within BIM models throughout the project lifecycle.
Fire safety design is based on the principle of compartmentation, where buildings are divided into fire compartments to limit the spread of fire and smoke. Fire-rated walls, floors, doors, and protected service penetrations are designed to maintain the integrity of these compartments. If penetrations are not properly protected or if fire compartments are incorrectly defined, the fire safety strategy of a building may be compromised.
Modern buildings often contain a large number of service penetrations where mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems pass through fire-rated elements. These penetrations must be coordinated carefully and installed according to fire safety design requirements. At the same time, fire compartments must meet size limitations, fire walls must remain continuous, and fire-rated elements must be correctly specified and documented.
Reviewing fire safety design information across complex projects using drawings and documents alone can be challenging, especially when designs change during coordination. Model-based workflows allow project teams to review fire safety-related design information directly within BIM models and identify potential issues earlier in the project lifecycle.
Solibri supports model checking workflows that help project teams review fire safety design information within BIM models, improving coordination, documentation, and overall model quality throughout the project lifecycle.
Service penetrations through fire-rated walls and floors are one of the most coordination-intensive areas in building design. Mechanical ducts, pipes, cable trays, and conduits often pass through fire compartments and require appropriate fire stopping solutions. These penetrations typically need to meet requirements related to opening size, spacing, clearance, and compatibility with fire-rated assemblies.
Because penetrations are created by multiple disciplines and models evolve during coordination, maintaining consistent fire stopping design information across models can be difficult without structured validation workflows. Changes in routing, equipment size, or wall construction may affect fire stopping requirements and should be reviewed during coordination.
Solibri supports rule-based model checking workflows that can be used to review service penetrations and fire stopping-related design information within BIM models. These checks can be configured to identify penetrations through fire-rated elements, review the presence of fire stopping components, and evaluate distances, clearances, and opening dimensions based on project requirements and defined rulesets.
By supporting structured model checking workflows, project teams can review fire stopping design information earlier in the project lifecycle and improve coordination between disciplines.
During the delivery of Everton FC’s new stadium, Laing O’Rourke and BDP collaborated with Solibri to strengthen how fire stopping of service penetrations was validated in the native BIM model.
The approach enabled the team to automatically validate over 15,000 penetration seals and achieve 100% validation coverage, compared to approximately 10% on previous projects. Continuously capturing validation details per penetration also supported Golden Thread information requirements by connecting design decisions, performance requirements, and compliance evidence.
Fire safety design also includes requirements related to fire compartments, fire walls, fire doors, fire windows, and other fire-rated assemblies. Fire compartments may have maximum area limitations, fire walls may need to remain continuous, and fire-rated doors and openings may need to meet specified fire rating and dimension requirements depending on project requirements and applicable regulations.
Reviewing these requirements across large BIM models can be complex, particularly on projects involving multiple disciplines and frequent design changes. Model-based checking workflows allow project teams to review fire-related design information more consistently across the entire building model.
Solibri supports rule-based model checking that can be used to review fire compartments, fire walls, fire-rated elements, and openings within BIM models. These checks can be configured to review compartment areas, wall continuity, door and opening properties, and other fire safety-related design information based on project requirements and defined rulesets.
Using model-based checking workflows helps project teams review fire safety design information more consistently across the building model and maintain better visibility of fire safety-related design elements throughout design and coordination.
Fire safety is not only a design and construction topic but also a documentation and lifecycle information topic. In many projects, fire safety information must be documented and maintained as part of building handover documentation and asset information. Fire compartments, fire-rated elements, service penetrations, and fire stopping systems may need to be documented and traceable throughout the building lifecycle.
Model-based workflows support this process by allowing fire safety-related design information and model checking results model-based workflows support this process to be documented and included in model validation reports and project documentation. This can support documentation workflows, regulatory submissions, and lifecycle information management processes.
Solibri supports model checking and reporting workflows that can be used to document model validation results and support project documentation processes related to building information and lifecycle data.
Solibri provides rule-based model checking tools that support the review and validation of fire safety-related design information within BIM models. These workflows can help project teams review fire compartments, fire-rated elements, and service penetrations based on project requirements, model information, and defined rulesets.
By supporting structured model checking workflows, Solibri helps project teams improve model quality, coordination, and documentation across the project lifecycle. Model checking workflows can also support project documentation, coordination processes, and regulatory submission workflows depending on project requirements.
Fire safety is a critical aspect of building design and construction, and model-based workflows can support better coordination, documentation, and review processes related to fire safety design information.