CMI Fire Duct

By Steve Lopez,
Vice President, Construction

Every once in a while a product or process comes along that can be seen to have an immediate benefit to our company. Two years ago, a contractor friend of ours in Florida told us about a product that they use which is sprayed on ductwork that will give it a fire rating equivalent (except for grease duct) to a two hour sheet rock shaft. It is called Flamebar BW-11 made by Firespray International. We were a little skeptical at first but after looking into it, we think this is one of those immediate impact products. CMI has signed an agreement to be the exclusive representative of Flamebar in California and is a UL certified fabricator/installer. CMI Fire Duct is born.

CMI Fire Duct is as much of a process as it is a product. In addition to the spraying of BW-11, the ductwork must be built to a specific set of standards and the steps of fabrication (duct gage, connections, reinforcing, cleaning and spray thickness) are all documented for each piece before it sent out for installation. This procedure is what gives the product/process an Underwriters Laboratory certification (meeting ISO Std 6944) for duct up to 40" x 40". Flamebar has also received the California State Fire Marshall listing and is in the process of being approved by the International Code Council (ICC), the governing body that regulates the building codes for municipalities around the state.

Earlier this year we were able to use CMI Fire Duct on an installation at the Lucas Visual Arts Center at the site of the former Letterman Hospital in the Presidio. This project is under federal code jurisdiction, accepting a UL certification along with specifying engineer approval for code compliance. We use Fire Duct for elevator shaft ventilation in seven locations where the lack of space would not allow for fire rated sheet rock chases, simplifying a tough problem.

In the very near future, we will be able to offer CMI Fire Duct as an alternative to fire rated sheet rock shafts and chases throughout the state.