Roof Space: Fire Stop party wall

[daniel oram]

I'm trying to find information about the title.

My intended purchase was once a single building, now a split semi detached, extended flint cottage.

The roof space is still shared with next door.
The Surveyor has instructed a fire stop party wall is installed and i'm trying to find out what regulations and materials are needed.

can anyone help please?

thanks in advance

 

[David Q]

A lot of older houses have no wall in the loft space - hence you can crawl to your neighbours!. However this is a real fire risk as a fire in one loft is a fire in all. There has to be a fireproof wall built up to the rafter level at least. In our house (1840) with an adjoining house built 1865ish the wall is single brick, built from the stone walls of the house up to the roof. The only gaps in it are where the main roof timbers pass through and these are filled in with mortar to provide a seal. My guess is that a modern equivalent should be two layers of brick or one of concrete block, with all gaps filled with mortar.

 

[middi]

If it is not possible to build a brick or block wall the easy solution is to use a double skin fire proof board , they come in various thicknesses from most builders merchants.

This can easily be screwd on a simple 2x2 wood frame which is trapped within the fireproof boards
.