Fire-rated sealing and fire stopping in Bicester, Oxfordshire
Fire-rated and intumescent sealing of service penetrations and linear gaps across Bicester, by CSCS-carded applicators. Fully insured and CHAS accredited.
- Builders’ foam or ordinary silicone in compartment walls
- Hidden openings found during inspections
- Openings left by services added after handover
Fire stopping for businesses in Bicester
Photos, a specification or a quick description of the joints is enough to start a fixed quote.
Fire stopping in Bicester: the local picture
Approved Document B is the English guidance that covers fire stopping around openings and penetrations. From 2 September 2029, BS 476 references are being taken out of Approved Document B, leaving BS EN 13501-2 classification as the route, subject to the Government’s transitional arrangements. Either way, we install the specified product to its tested detail. Bicester has a number of hotels close by, all within 2 miles. A hotel refit often runs new services through compartment walls between bedrooms and corridors, and each opening needs the specified seal.
Halls and meeting rooms at places like Church of St Edburg sometimes gain new services, and any compartment wall crossed needs the specified seal. Holiday works at schools like Brookside Primary School often leave service openings to seal before pupils return.
Bicester is about 11 miles north of Oxford, in Oxfordshire. Any commercial site in Bicester is covered, for single jobs and planned programmes alike. Across Oxfordshire, 423 places are covered, Bicester among them. There’s a separate page for Oxford, roughly 11 miles from Bicester.
Business premises anywhere in OX26 and OX27 are within our area for service penetrations. Among the streets we cover are Market Square, Market End Way and London Road. Bicester sits on or close to the A4095 and B4100, which helps when planning parking and deliveries for the job. Just outside Bicester, we also work in Bure Park (1 mile north), Caversfield (1 mile north), Bucknell (2 miles north-west), Stratton Audley (3 miles north-east) and Stoke Lyne (3 miles north). Nearby towns on our patch include Oxford (11 miles south), Banbury (14 miles north-west), Thame (13 miles south-east), Kidlington (8 miles south-west), Headington Quarry (10 miles south) and St John Street area (11 miles south-west). Bicester is one of the busier places in Oxfordshire, and its commercial and public buildings are all within our area.
Around Bicester
We work on buildings around Bicester Technology Studio and The Plough pub, among other places. There’s a railway station in Bicester itself: Bicester North station. A little further out are Bicester Community Hospital (under half a mile south) and Bicester Village (0.7 miles south). Open spaces near Bicester include Graven Hill and Woodsides Meadow.
Fire stopping in Bicester, done properly
Penetration seals are fire tested to BS EN 1366-3 and linear joint seals to BS EN 1366-4. A rating such as EI 60 only holds when the product is installed as it was tested. Reproducing the tested arrangement on site is the part we take care of. Most enquiries involve improvised or mixed-product fire seals and unsealed penetrations discovered above suspended ceilings, on cable penetrations, small duct penetrations where the tested detail allows and joints between fire-resisting walls and floors. One point of contact handles commercial sealant work in Bicester from the first photos to the final walk-round, whether it’s one building or several.
Older buildings in towns like Bicester have often been rewired and replumbed several times, and each change can leave unsealed holes in walls and floors. Intumescent or fire-rated sealant is used wherever the specification asks for it, built up exactly as tested.
Every job we finish is backed by a 12-month workmanship guarantee. If a joint we sealed fails because of how it was installed, we come back and put it right.
- Where
- Bicester (OX26, OX27)
- Region
- Oxfordshire
- Guarantee
- A 12-month guarantee
- Quote
- A fixed quote before we start
- Phone
- 01277 525 020
- Last updated
- 3 November 2026
Honest limits
Being straight saves everyone time. New sealant won’t cure:
- Fire doors, dampers or other fire safety equipment
- Construction that lacks the fire resistance the seal relies on
- Large openings beyond what any sealant detail covers
If you’re not sure, just phone 01277 525 020 or send photos by email and we’ll give you a straight answer before you book.
Joints and surfaces we work on
- Linear gaps at wall heads
- Service gaps in risers
- Small duct penetrations where the tested detail allows
- Joints between fire-resisting walls and floors
- Pipe penetrations
- Cable penetrations
On site: what to expect
Working in a building that stays open takes some planning. We sign and contain the area we’re in, with routes through the building left open and work section by section so the rest of the building stays in use. For a town like Bicester, we try to group jobs for the same client into one visit, with one quote covering them. Give us your access times and we’ll fit the work in.
- We ask for the product and detail your designer has specified.
- We sort the openings by the detail each one needs.
- Improvised fillers and failed sealant are removed.
- Mineral wool or other backing is fitted where required.
- Fire-rated or intumescent sealant goes in around the services and is tooled off.
- We walk the completed areas with you and confirm the records agreed at quote stage.
What we need from you
- Arrange parking or a loading space
- Tell staff and tenants when we’ll be in
- Make sure the joints can be reached
Request a quote
To get a fixed quote, ring 01277 525 020 or use the quote form, telling us the site location and the nature of the job. Our quote form is another easy route.
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Questions we are asked in Bicester
Do you take on work at healthcare sites like Bicester Community Hospital?
Yes, hospitals are one of the sectors we cover. The estates team’s permit system and infection-control rules come first, and the work is planned around them.
How does the removal of BS 476 from Approved Document B affect fire-rated sealing in Bicester?
Approved Document B loses its BS 476 references from 2 September 2029, and BS EN 13501-2 becomes the route, subject to transitional arrangements. Our part doesn’t change: the specified product, to its tested detail.
Can you follow the specification on our project?
Yes. Send it with your enquiry, and we’ll price the work to it.
Which sealant will you use?
The specification comes first, if there is one. Without one, the joint decides: its movement, its surfaces and what it has to cope with.
Will you just go over the old sealant?
No. We cut the old material out and clean the joint back before sealing, because fresh silicone will not bond with aged silicone.
What do you charge?
There isn’t a price list, as every site differs. Send photographs or drawings and we’ll price it at a fixed figure.
Can one quote cover more than one building?
Yes. A group of buildings can go on one quote, with one point of contact across South East England, Greater London and Scotland.
Quoting for work in Bicester
Before we quote, we look at:
- Phasing around occupants
- The size and state of each joint
- Travel to remote or island sites
- Quantities, in metres or numbers
Access can matter as much as the joints themselves: joints within easy reach take less time than ones that need access equipment. Mention the access as part of your enquiry.
What to include in your enquiry
For an accurate fixed quote, we need a clear picture of the site. Useful things to include:
- Whether the building will be occupied during the work
- Any dates the work must fit around
- The site address and postcode
- Approximate linear metres or a joint schedule
If there’s a specification, drawings or a tender package, send it with your enquiry, and we will price against exactly what is specified. For smaller jobs, photos and a description will do.
Do you need fire stopping in Bicester?
Fire stopping can get squeezed at the end of a programme, or done by whoever is on site. That is how unsuitable products and improvised details end up in compartment walls and later need putting right.
These are often picked up first by site or facilities staff:
- Old intumescent sealant that has split away
- Improvised or mixed-product fire seals
- Snag lists that include open service penetrations
- Unsealed penetrations discovered above suspended ceilings
Theatres, wards and plant rooms at sites like Bicester Community Hospital, less than half a mile to the south of Bicester, all have compartment walls crossed by services.
Before you book anyone
- What the guarantee covers, and for how long
- Can the work be phased to keep areas open?
- Their public liability cover
- What site paperwork they can supply
Keeping the joints sound
Cleaning and maintenance staff play a part too. Pass these on to them:
- Check risers and ceiling voids after each round of works
- Make fire stopping part of every scope that crosses a fire-resisting wall
- Foam or ordinary sealant is never a fire-seal repair
- Have penetrations checked while they can still be seen
New services after handover are a common way fire stopping gets breached. Building it into each contractor’s sign-off keeps the walls intact.
Ask every contractor who works in risers or voids to report openings they create. Small habits like this stop openings building up.
Why it’s worth doing now in Bicester
Sealing behind the M&E trades area by area beats a sweep at the end. While the area is still open, every opening is easy to see and reach and each detail can be checked as we go. In a town like Bicester, a split, stained or mouldy joint is often the first thing visitors notice. Fresh sealant makes a building look maintained.
The work involved drives the cost: removing old material, preparing the joints, the product, the access and how the work is phased. Call for a quote and we’ll explain how it’s made up.
Why us?
- Commercial sealant work since 2005
- CHAS accredited contractor
- CSCS-carded applicators
- One contact handling all your sites