Continuous Compliance: Solutions for Fire-Rated Barriers that Reduce Lifecycle Risk | Webinar

Fire-rated barriers are critical life-safety features in healthcare facilities, yet initial construction and maintaining their integrity over time remains a persistent challenge. While many firestop solutions are code-compliant at the time of installation, inevitably some are deficient from the start.  Frequent service changes, cable additions, and renovations can compromise barrier performance, often shifting compliance risks and costs from capital construction expenditures (CapEx) to ongoing operational expenditures (OpEx). This course explores fire-rated barrier design and construction strategies that support continuous compliance throughout a facility’s lifecycle. Attendees will examine how traditional field-applied firestop materials can become vulnerable to degradation, re-entry, and inconsistent maintenance, and how alternative fire-rated pathway devices, building joint gasketing systems, and cast-in solutions can help reduce long-term risk, labor, and disruption. Through a systems-based approach, the presentation highlights how selecting appropriate fire-rated barrier solutions during design and construction can improve inspection readiness, reduce maintenance demands, and support safer, more resilient healthcare environments, without sacrificing flexibility for future infrastructure changes.

Learning Objectives

• Explain the “Continuous compliance” concept for fire-rated barriers in healthcare facilities, illustrating why initial code compliance does not always ensure long-term performance.
• Identify common lifecycle risks associated with traditional firestop approaches during initial construction, including degradation, re-entry, and inconsistent maintenance over time.
• Evaluate the lifecycle implications of fire-rated barrier strategies, comparing field-applied materials with pathway devices, building joint gasketing systems, and cast-in solutions from a labor, inspection, and operational standpoint.
• Discuss how design and construction strategies influence lifecycle outcomes, including reducing liability and capital risk, improving construction efficiency, lowering operational expenditures through improved inspection readiness, and supporting safer, more resilient healthcare environments over time.
   

Instructor

John Zalepka
Director of Training
Specified Technologies Inc.

John Zalepka is the Director of Training & Industry Engagements at Specified Technologies Inc., where he oversees the accreditation and delivery of continuing education programs, including the widely specified Firestop Instructional Training (FIT) and all accredited CE modules. As a former Territory Manager in New York City, he brings hands-on experience from the field into the classroom. John is also a professional speaker, a member of the National Speakers Association, an internationally recognized Distinguished Toastmaster, and the author of The Presenter's Playbook.