Electric and hybrid cars require different fire protection

Fire safety in underground parking garages

Most underground parking garages were built in the 20th century, according to the laws and standards of the time. In the meantime, cars have changed a lot. Today's cars contain up to 75% more plastic than before, hybrid cars pose a greater fire risk, and the battery pack of electric and hybrid cars can continue to burn and is more difficult to extinguish. The risk and consequences of fire have increased. However, existing legislation lags behind technical developments. Promat provides solutions to increase the fire resistance of the support structure within underground parking garages and to prevent the spread of fire.

PROMATECT®-H and PROMATECT®-T fire-resistant cladding guarantee that the building's structure will be preserved for 120 or 240 minutes in the event of a fire, giving the fire department time to do its job. PROMATECT®-H is a non-combustible, steam-hardened calcium silicate board that has been used for more than forty years for the fire-resistant protection of steel and concrete load-bearing structures. PROMATECT®-T belongs to a new generation of high-quality boards for protecting concrete structures, escape routes and high-risk areas. The latter sheeting in particular is ideally suited for use in tunnels and underground parking garages.

Work to be done

"Many parking garages need to be renovated in the coming years to meet new safety requirements. If this is not done, it really poses a big risk," said Caroline Remels, product manager at Promat. "The solution we offer is quite simple and very durable. By offering fire-resistant cladding that you can easily attach to walls and ceilings in high-risk areas, you increase safety but don't have to close off the parking garage to visitors. In addition, we apply firestopping products to seal penetrations and prevent lateral and vertical fire spread." Based on the certificates it has obtained, Promat guarantees a lifespan of at least 25 years on fire-resistant cladding, but there are numerous examples of tunnels where the sheets have been hanging much longer without compromising on performance. 

Simple and inexpensive solutions

Promat is part of the Etex Group, a global manufacturer of fire-resistant boards, paints, spray mortars and a wide range of firestopping products. It sees it as its job to make parking lot owners, fire departments, municipalities and insurers aware of the risks that currently exist. These are greater than the law describes, while the solutions are therefore quite simple, says Henk Winkels, area sales manager at Promat: "Our solutions greatly increase passive fire safety. We see many fire departments and municipalities struggling with the question of what is the best way to protect parking garages and often apartments above them. For them, fires caused by electric cars are also relatively new. We want to offer them a piece of security and point out that there are solutions available with our products."

Now and in the future

Promat products are manufactured according to strict quality control systems and to the highest standards. The solutions meet the requirements of current data as well as higher requirements that can be applied from a safety point of view today. Thus, with Promat's solutions the parking lot is fire safe now, but also in the future, when even more electric and hybrid cars appear.