The Burn: Beyond Firestop

Hosted by John Zalepka

Intro

Welcome to The Burn, Beyond Fire Stop. Our show is dedicated to life safety and code compliance in the built environment, which puts me on a mission to find the most interesting people in this space to get their unique perspective. Our hope is that our listening audience walks away with an understanding of how our guests and their businesses and organizations contribute to the promotion of life safety of whatever is being built. Our show is brought to you by Specified Technologies, Inc. Also known as STI Fire Stop. And since 1990 STI has been a leading global provider of innovative fire protective solutions that help stop the spread of fire, smoke and hot gases.

My guest today is Mark St. Onge, Fire Protection Specialist and Field Engineer at UL (Underwriters Laboratories), where much of the industry’s fire testing is done. 

Key Takeaways

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• Mark’s Background
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• Air Force Veteran, served 15 years. 
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• Worked in volunteer fire department, and as an EMT
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• Got into 3rd party inspections
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• Special Inspections
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• Has seen a lot in the field, loves the opportunity to help others from past experiences 
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• Brought into UL with an opportunity to grow a new program 
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• Pre Construction meetings of the utmost importance. 
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• Time at UL
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• Reports to Program Manager for Fire Protection and Fire Barrier Management Program and Lightning Protection System Program
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• Acts as a 3rd party special inspector
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• Outreach. Speaks at events. ICC, SCIA, etc. 
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• Helps Qualified Contractor Program 
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• Fire door inspections
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• Master audit certificate of compliance 
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• Interact with engineering staff and regulatory staff
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• 3rd Party Testing
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• A lot of training and experience goes into qualification for a 3rd party inspector 
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• Once you are qualified, you are out on your own, you hope you have others that you can reach out to for questions. That’s the bonus of having people at UL that are experienced. 
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• What’s new at UL?
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• UL’s Firestop numbering system 
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About Mark

Fire Protection Specialist at UL

Mark on LinkedIn

About Underwriters Laboratories

As the global safety science leader, we provide the expertise, insights and services necessary to achieve core business objectives. Our testing, inspection and certification, advisory and risk management services, decision-making tools, training and business intelligence offerings help our customers, based in more than 100 countries, solve their critical business challenges and prepare for future opportunities.

https://www.ul.com

About STI Firestop

Since 1990 Specified Technologies, Inc. (STI) is a global leader in the firestopping industry. The company manufactures a wide array of products and technologies to provide passive fire protection. Headquartered in Somerville, NJ, STI has sales offices all over the globe. STI Marine is a Division of STI that specializes in marine fire protection in the cruise line, offshore oil and gas, and general maritime industry. STI Marine’s product line consists of a full range of products used for penetration seals and cable transits in fire-rated bulkheads and decks, including water-tight firestop sealants, firestop collars for plastic piping, and an innovative cable transit device. All products comply with the IMO FTP Code and are subject to various Type Approvals include MED, DNV GL, Lloyds Register, ABS, USCG, BV, RINA and more…

https://www.stifirestop.com