Fire Safety Project Planning: 8 Coordination Steps

Fire-safety coordination becomes expensive when the strategy reaches the ceiling plan after structure and services are already fixed.

This workflow turns the approved strategy into coordinated drawings, evidence requirements and testable control sequences.

Start with Design Objectives and an Adopted Code Basis

A fire-safety project should begin by recording the building use, occupant characteristics, geometry, hazards, authority requirements and the adopted codes or standards. This basis of design prevents disciplines from solving different versions of the same problem. It also distinguishes mandatory requirements from project-specific performance objectives and client preferences.

Compartmentation, evacuation, detection, suppression and smoke control should then be developed as connected strategies. Where an opening crosses a required boundary, the team can evaluate a tested door, shutter or active fire curtain against the actual function. Where a large volume needs smoke zoning, the team can evaluate fixed or deployable smoke barriers as part of the calculation.

Translate Strategy into Coordinated Deliverables

The fire strategy needs to appear in architectural plans, reflected ceiling plans, structural details, MEP schematics, control narratives and schedules. A curtain package cannot be coordinated from an opening width alone. It requires head-box space, support reactions, guide interfaces, power and signal requirements, access for maintenance and a defined relationship with escape routes.

Before procurement, the specification should state the required classification, evidence, limits of application, control behaviour, submittals, installation responsibilities and acceptance tests. Before handover, the team should close comments, witness integrated testing, provide as-built records and train the operator.

Eight Coordination Gates

A robust workflow uses clear gates: confirm the code basis; approve design objectives; freeze compartment and smoke-zone drawings; issue the cause-and-effect matrix; coordinate structure and services; approve product evidence and shop drawings; complete installation inspections; and witness integrated commissioning. A package should not pass a gate while critical assumptions remain hidden in email.

Submittal reviews need an evidence matrix. For each curtain location, record the required function, classification, duration, opening size, mounting condition, proposed system, supporting report and reviewer disposition. This prevents a certificate for one configuration being treated as blanket approval for every opening on the project.

Handover is the final design gate, not an administrative afterthought. As-built drawings must match installed guides, controls and interfaces. Test records should identify initiating devices and observed outcomes. Maintenance instructions should state inspection frequency according to the adopted requirements and manufacturer guidance, safe isolation procedures, reset steps and escalation routes for faults.

What a Useful Technical Enquiry Contains

A useful enquiry identifies the project country and authority, building use, opening schedule, plans and sections, required classification and duration, mounting substrate, ceiling constraints, control cause-and-effect and programme. Include the relevant specification clauses and any preferred evidence format. This information allows the manufacturer to flag application limits, interface risks and missing decisions before price becomes the only comparison. If requirements are still being developed, mark assumptions clearly and assign the design team to confirm them; a supplier proposal should not silently become the project fire strategy. State whether installation, access equipment, power wiring, alarm interfaces, commissioning, witness testing and operator training belong to the curtain package so quotations remain technically comparable.

Freeze Interfaces Before Procurement

Curtain openings need structural support, head-box volume, guide details, power, controls and maintenance access. Early interface decisions reduce redesign and make bids comparable.

Specifier and Project-Team Checklist

• Record the adopted code basis, authority requirements and project-specific fire-strategy objective before selecting a product.
• Define the required classification, duration, dimensions and field of application for every curtain location.
• Coordinate structure, head-box space, guides, finishes, services, power, controls and safe maintenance access on shared drawings.
• Verify that test and classification evidence covers the proposed assembly rather than a similar marketing name.
• Write the alarm, power-loss, manual-control, delay, reset and status-feedback logic into the cause-and-effect matrix.
• Witness integrated tests, close deviations and hand over as-built drawings, evidence, test records and maintenance instructions.

Common Coordination Mistakes

Treating a catalogue as the design

Product literature can describe a system, but it does not establish the project objective, authority acceptance or application limits.

Reviewing disciplines in isolation

A curtain package touches architecture, structure, electrical controls, fire alarm, smoke control and operations. Late coordination creates avoidable risk.

Accepting evidence by headline only

A test duration or certification logo must be traced to the exact assembly, classification, dimensions and installation arrangement.

Official References and Currency Note

A catalogue statement is not a project approval. Confirm the adopted code, the current standard edition, the approved fire strategy and the exact scope of the product evidence.

• BSI — BS EN 12101-1 smoke barriers
• NFPA — NFPA 92 Smoke Control Systems
• ISO — Smoke and heat control committee

This article is general technical guidance, not a project-specific compliance decision. The authority having jurisdiction, appointed fire engineer, approved fire strategy and current product evidence govern the final design.

Frequently Asked Questions