Fire Rated Curtain Walling

Fire rated curtain walling, also called fire resistant curtain walling, is a glazed façade tested to stay intact for a classified time in a fire, and BDF Architectural supplies and installs it for offices, hotels, hospitals and high-rise buildings across London and the UK. It lets a compartment line or escape route run behind glass instead of solid wall.

The classification matters as much as the system. An E rating limits the passage of flames and hot gases; EW also limits the heat radiated through the glass; EI adds insulation, keeping the unexposed face cool enough to protect the people and escape routes next to it. Fire resistance is tested to EN 1364 and classified for a period in minutes, and the façade is designed to the curtain walling standard BS EN 13830.

We supply Jansen VISS Fire, a steel mullion and transom façade tested for fire resistance, alongside fire rated aluminium options where the specification allows. The fire rated sections are designed to match the appearance of the standard curtain wall around them, so the elevation reads as one façade.

The rating belongs to the tested assembly, not to the glass alone. The fire-resistant glass, the frame, gaskets, glazing beads and fixings are tested together, so the glass is specified with the system and the classification only holds within the tested configuration and sizes. Fire rated curtain walling is also different from the fire stopping at the slab edge: the first resists fire through the façade itself, while the second closes the gap between each floor slab and the back of any curtain wall, fire rated or not, so fire and smoke cannot pass from floor to floor behind the glass. Both are set by the fire strategy, and responsibility for the slab-edge line is agreed at design stage.

Fire rated glazing is typically needed where the façade forms part of a compartment line, sits beside a protected stair or escape route, or where the rules on fire spread between buildings limit unprotected glazing. The rating depends on the tested configuration, glass and fixings, so it is confirmed against the building's fire strategy and Approved Document B at technical review for each project. To price, send elevations, the fire strategy marking the fire rated zones, the performance specification and programme dates.