Fire-rated sealing and fire stopping in The Common, Essex
Fire stopping in The Common, backed by over 20 years in commercial sealing. Fully insured, with a 12-month guarantee.
- Non-fire-rated filler around services
- Seals disturbed by maintenance and left open
- Head-of-wall gaps with no fire seal
Fire stopping for businesses in The Common
Share the site address and what’s failing, and we’ll reply with a fixed quote or arrange a visit.
Building owners, agents and FMs in The Common
Facilities managers want contractors who arrive with the paperwork sorted. Let us know the documents you need (RAMS, insurance certificate, CSCS details) and we’ll confirm them with the quote.
If you look after buildings for someone else, you need clear quotes and clear reporting. We quote a fixed sum, confirm the scope and walk the finished work with you or your representative.
About our fire stopping in The Common
Facilities managers in The Common often find open service penetrations when ceilings come down for other work. If a specification already covers those walls and floors, we can reseal to it, matching the product and detail it names. With no specification in place, the first step sits with your designer or fire engineer, not with us. If you are dealing with old intumescent sealant that has split away and improvised or mixed-product fire seals, we can put it right, on service gaps in risers, linear gaps at wall heads and cable penetrations alike. For commercial sealant work in The Common, you deal with one contact from quote to sign-off, whether it’s one building or several.
For a smaller site near The Common, we plan to do all the penetrations in one go, so send the specification and photographs first. Design and sign-off belong to the designer or building control; we install what’s specified.
What our 12-month guarantee covers is the way we did the job: preparation, application and finish. It doesn’t extend to damage, other trades’ later work or movement the joint was never designed to take.
- Where
- The Common (CB10)
- Wider area
- Essex
- Cover
- 12 months on every job
- Quotes
- Fixed quote, scope in writing
- Phone
- 01277 525 020
- Last updated
- 3 November 2026
Nearby places to The Common
Also in The Common
When it isn’t the sealant
Honesty saves time and money. New sealant won’t cure:
- Large openings beyond what any sealant detail covers
- Reviewing a building’s overall fire safety
- Issuing fire ratings or certificates for seals
Not sure which it is? You can give us a call on 01277 525 020 or send details through our quote form and we’ll tell you honestly before you book.
Joints and surfaces we work on
- Small duct penetrations where the tested detail allows
- Linear gaps at wall heads
- Joints between fire-resisting walls and floors
- Service gaps in risers
- Cable penetrations
- Pipe penetrations
What affects the price in The Common
We price every job individually. The main factors are:
- The total length or number of joints
- Site requirements such as inductions and permits
- Backing rod, priming and other preparation
- Travel to remote or island sites
Quantities, awkward access and phased working all shape the price. So do site requirements such as inductions and permits.
What we need to price the job
Good information means a firmer quote. Helpful details to send:
- Rough lengths or quantities, or drawings if you have them
- Access details, including height
- A wide shot and a close-up of the area
- The asbestos register, for older buildings
Quotes are fixed against the scope you send, so you know the figure before anyone is on site. To ask for one, speak to us on 01277 525 020 or email a schedule or drawings.
Questions about The Common
Is a hospital such as Saffron Walden Community Hospital somewhere you can work?
Yes, provided the work is planned with the site’s estates team. We follow the site’s permits, sign-in and infection-control procedures in every area.
What does the BS 476 change mean for fire-rated sealant in The Common?
From 2 September 2029, Approved Document B drops its BS 476 references in favour of BS EN 13501-2 classification, with transitional arrangements. Whichever applies, we install the specified product to its tested detail; the specification is for the designer to set.
Are your applicators CSCS-carded?
Yes. We use CSCS-carded applicators, which many sites require.
Will you just go over the old sealant?
No. Failed sealant is removed and the faces cleaned back to sound, dry material first, because fresh silicone will not bond with aged silicone.
Is the work guaranteed?
Yes, for 12 months. If our installation fails in that time, we return and fix it.
Who decides which product is used?
A specification, where there is one, decides it. Without one, the joint decides: its movement, its surfaces and what it has to cope with.
How long do sealant joints last?
There’s no fixed lifespan: movement, exposure, cleaning, traffic and the product all play a part. Sealant joints are maintenance items, so inspect them regularly.
Our process
Site rules come first: signing in, inductions and any permit to work. With the paperwork done, the joints are worked through in the order agreed with your site contact, and each area is checked before we leave it. Smaller jobs around The Common can be grouped with others nearby. A fixed quote is given before anything starts.
- First we confirm the product and tested details named in the specification.
- Openings are measured and grouped by detail.
- Improvised fillers and failed sealant are removed.
- Mineral wool or other backing is fitted where required.
- We gun the sealant in to the specified depth around each service and tool it.
- Completed areas are checked with you, with the records agreed when we quoted.
Preparing the site
- Send asbestos survey details if the building is pre-2000
- Let building users know which areas are affected
- Have the specification and drawings to hand
Get a fixed quote
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.
Read more
When to bring in a specialist
A short, simple internal joint is often within reach of a maintenance team. The usual problems come from preparation: new sealant over old, damp or dusty faces, or the wrong product for the movement.
The visible bead is only part of the job. Backing rod, primer where specified and a joint designed to move with the building are easy to get wrong without experience.
Looking after the joints
Your facilities or cleaning team can help the joints last. Share these points with them:
- Report damaged or disturbed seals as soon as they’re spotted
- File the specified details where the next contractor can find them
- Settle who seals which penetrations at the start of a project
- Keep general-purpose fillers away from compartment walls
Don’t patch a fire-rated seal with anything outside its tested detail. Repairs need the same product and detail as the original unless the designer specifies otherwise.
Regular walk-rounds of service areas are worth the time. A cracked or disturbed seal found early is a small job.
Service penetrations in The Common buildings
Central London is about 41 miles from The Common. Tenant changes on commuter-belt business parks mean regular fit-outs, and new services through compartment walls; the gaps need the specified seal. In England, Approved Document B covers fire stopping of openings and penetrations. The national BS 476 classes are due to drop out of it from 2 September 2029, leaving the European BS EN 13501-2 route, subject to transitional arrangements. Either way, we install the specified product to its tested detail.
In a building such as Church of St Mary the Virgin, any service penetration through a fire-resisting wall should be sealed to the specified detail. Wherever services are added at a hospital such as Saffron Walden Community Hospital, 3.5 miles west of The Common, the compartment line has to be made good with the specified product. In a school such as Radwinter Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, fire-rated sealant goes in around service penetrations where it is specified.
The Common is about 4 miles east of Saffron Walden, in Essex. We cover The Common and the rest of Essex, and jobs here get the same fixed quote and 12-month guarantee as anywhere else. We work across 644 places in Essex. London is covered too, some 41 miles away.
Postcode districts covered here: CB10 for service penetrations. Nearby places we also cover include Radwinter (1 mile south), Maple End (1 mile south-west), Wimbish (2 miles south-west), Hempstead (2 miles east) and Church End (3 miles north-west). Bigger towns within reach include Braintree (13 miles south-east), Saffron Walden (4 miles west), Halstead (14 miles south-east), Great Dunmow (10 miles south), Stansted Mountfitchet (10 miles south-west) and Great Notley (14 miles south-east).
What’s near The Common
Nearby you will also find Castle Camps (2.8 miles north-east) and Saffron Walden Community Hospital (3.5 miles west). For a walk, there’s Hales and Shadwell Woods.