The Flameguard system is a means of installing low voltage or mains voltage downlighters with integral fire and acoustic properties negating the need for expensive and awkward to install fire protection covers.

All new build or conversion premises have to have fire-rated ceilings. The fire rating is a measure of the amount of time that a ceiling can hold back a fire before it spreads to the floor above. A fairly typical fire rating for a ceiling is 60 minutes. Of course, when you cut a hole in a ceiling to fit recessed lighting, you immediately compromise that ceiling's fire rating. The gaps within the light fitting will now be that ceiling's weakest point. Flames, smoke, and heat, will find that gap and pour through it, spreading the fire to the floor above. In order to solve this problem any holes cut for recessed downlights need to be covered with a fire protection cover. Several types of fire protection covers are now available - the woven cloth types and fully intumescent 'caps' which simply drop over the fitting. Flameguard Downlights represent a step forward in fire protection and negate the need to fit these expensive protection covers.

Once installed all Flameguard protected downlighters offer long term protection, immediately and guaranteed. There is no need for secondary inspection to ensure that the fire seal is in place. It is an integral part of the downlighter and requires no further action over and above the installation of the downlighter.

How do they work?
The Flameguard intumescent seal, when exposed to fire, forms a dense carbon char which separates and insulates the substrate from the heat of the fire. The expanded seal eliminates the flow of air through the void and thereby starves the fire of vital elements for combustion.
All Flameguard system downlights carry the "F" Mark. Suitable for mounting into normally flammable material, i.e. wood.

Flameguard system downlighters have been fully tested and approved as fire and acoustic rated fittings according to the following criteria:

Complies with Part B of Building Regulations

Fire tested to full 90 minute rating by Chiltern International Fire and approved to BS 476 Part 21 1987

Fire and acoustic testing carried out using plasterboard, timber joist and tongue and groove floor construction.

Acoustically tested and approved by the Building Test Centre to BS EN ISO 140-3, BS EN ISO 140-6: 1998 and appendix F of Robust details Ltd. All in compliance with the relevant sections of Part E of Building Regulations.

Accepted by the NHBC as satisfying their requirements relating to levels of air movement through the fitting.

Testing carried out in compliance with forthcoming up-date of Part C of Building Regulations relating to the inclusion of air flow into cold spaces such as lofts.

All Flameguard luminaires are supplied with comprehensive and easy to follow instructions in compliance with Part P of Building Regulations.

The Compact Fluorescent Flameguard fitting meets the requirements of Part L1 of Building Regulations relating to the installation of low energy luminaires.

The insulation support box allows free air circulation around the luminaire and provides a rigid skin over which insulation can be laid. Good building practise dictates that insulation material is laid, unbroken, over the whole floor area. Good electrical practise however dictates that a minimum amount of free air is left around a luminaire in order to allow any heat build-up from the light source to be dissipated. The Insulation Support Box satisfies both of these requirements without compromising either. The box will also accommodate transformers used in an low voltage installation allowing any necessary maintenance to be carried out through the downlighter cut-out in the ceiling.

The box is available in two different sizes with fixing centres at 400mm and 600mm, designed to fit the vast majority of truss spacings in new builds in the UK. The box is strong enough to carry a weight of approx. 100kgs without distorting.