Did you know that copper piping is vital when it comes to maintaining good fire protection in buildings? Here’s what you need to know.
It’s vital to choose the right piping materials to have a safe home or office space. Research shows that copper piping is a great option for sustainable and fire-safe piping, especially in line with the new fire safety regulations that were brought into play after the Grenfell fire of 2017. These regulations focus on ways to avoid fire risks in buildings, and piping plays a key role.
The problem with synthetics
Many buildings, especially newer builds, have been constructed with hidden plastics within the body of the building itself, such as plastic and synthetic pipes. These materials have been favoured because they are cheap and easy to get hold of. However, they can be fire risks.
Why copper is better
Synthetic materials can ignite within just a few minutes when exposed to extreme heat. Copper, however, will not burn. Where there is a fire, synthetic materials also release damaging and toxic fumes that can be as deadly as the smoke or fire itself. For example, some of the firefighters who tackled the Grenfell blaze were later found to have terminal cancer as a result of inhaling these fumes.
Copper is also flexible and durable, so copper pipe connectors can be shaped to fit any kind of internal network, no matter how complex. Soldering and brazing create the necessary strong copper pipe connectors without the risk of breakage.
Copper can withstand structural fires with ease, thanks to its very high melting point of 1085C. The average structural fire hits a temperature of 816C. PVC will combust at just 421C, meaning it is far less safe and robust than copper.