Firestopping that holds. Compliance you can defend.

Your higher-risk building needs firestopping that holds in a fire and holds up in an audit. Skyline delivers the fire stopping London developers and managing agents rely on: an experienced, third-party-certified team installs tested systems and evidences every installation, across Greater London and the M4 corridor.

Tom Ford · Director What goes on behind the wall

Read the video transcript

Some people think that fire stopping is just filling holes and the truth is that it isn't. Hey guys, I'm Tom Ford, director here at Skyline Firestopping and I wanted to talk to you a little bit about what goes on behind the wall. Every building is divided up into what we call compartments and every pipe, cable and whatever else passing through these compartment or walls creates a weakness. If those openings or what we call penetrations aren't reinstated properly, then this means that the compartment no longer works and that essentially is what fire stopping is. We make sure that the compartment lines stay intact when services or penetrations pass through. Fire stopping isn't there to stop fires, it's there to stop fires from spreading and those are two very different things. Fire compartmentation buys valuable time, it protects escape routes, it limits smoke spread and it protects residents and emergency services also. Purpose of compartmentation is actually to preserve the building exactly as it was designed. Now there isn't just one fire stopping product, there's obviously a range of different products and manufacturers and different penetration types behave differently in a fire. For example, you have combustible and non-combustible, some pipes melt away, some stay in situ and transfer heat and when we talk about fire ratings we're not just talking about the products themselves, we're talking about the system, so the range of products which are used together in a system and that is where many mistakes can happen. Most fire stopping problems aren't actually installation problem, they can often start much further upstream, either planning that was left too late, poor design coordination, sometimes the wrong tested system for the actual situation, sometimes they can be incorrectly installed, sometimes it's a lack of quality QA and sometimes it's missing documentation. Most defects actually start weeks, sometimes months before the installation team actually even arrive on site. Creating safer buildings is actually everybody's responsibility, architects, M&E contractors, main contractors, consultants and like us, specialist installers. Not one of us can achieve full compliance alone, we have to work together as a team and my personal opinion is that that's the best way to look at it, it's a coordinated effort among everyone. We've created Behind the Wall to explain fire stopping in a bit more detail, it's free to download, if you're a developer, contractor, architect or even a building manager, it will help you understand what good fire stopping looks like. The link will be below, make sure you click it and don't forget to sign up to our email newsletter because we're creating more content just like this in an effort to make London's buildings safer. Feel free to click the link below, download your copy and if you need anything further, please don't be afraid to reach out and contact us. Thanks guys!

Free download Behind the Wall

Every service crossing a fire-rated wall opens a hole in it. Reinstate it wrong and the compartment is breached. A practical guide to compartmentation, EI ratings and the penetrations that cause most problems.

Third-party certified: BM TRADA Q-Mark

BM TRADA Q-Mark — Fire Stopping Installation certification

CSCS certified

FIA

Independent Fire Inspections

ASFP — Association for Specialist Fire Protection

Our Projects

Trusted to work on the UK’s highest-profile buildings

Five years on some of the UK’s most demanding projects — including The Gherkin, Olympic Park and Grosvenor Square — with 54 companies served.

Commercial landmark

The Gherkin

Beam-clad system & firestopped cavities, 30 St Mary Axe

Olympic Park: Firestopping package

Olympic Park

Firestopping package

Fire stopping London: Skyline Firestopping on the Grosvenor Square project

Grosvenor Square House

Compartmentation & firestopping, Mayfair

Aviator Park: Firestopping & cavity barriers, Addlestone

Aviator Park

Firestopping & cavity barriers, Addlestone

Clive House: Externals & communal areas, KT13

Clive House

Externals & communal areas, KT13

Royal Heights: High-rise compartmentation

Royal Heights

High-rise compartmentation

Dolphin House: Firestopping remedials

Dolphin House

Firestopping remedials

Voyager House: Compartmentation survey & works

Voyager House

Compartmentation survey & works

Elmhurst Primary School: Firestopping, London E7

Elmhurst Primary School

Firestopping, London E7

Coombe Hill House: Cavity barriers & sealing

Coombe Hill House

Cavity barriers & sealing

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What we do

Specialist firestopping services

Every service penetration, joint or gap through a fire-rated wall or floor gets a tested seal and a photographed record, on new build, refurbishment and remedial schemes alike.

Skyline’s fire stopping team at work on a London project

Firestopping Installation

Third-party-certified, tested firestopping systems installed exactly as tested. Every penetration, joint and cavity is photographed and captured in an audit-ready golden thread.

Penetration & linear gap sealing
Fire barriers & cavity barriers
Intumescent coatings
Golden-thread evidence pack

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Skyline’s fire stopping team at work on a London project

Fire Compartmentation Survey

Floor-by-floor identification of breaches in fire-rated walls, floors, ceilings and risers. Each one is photographed, located and validated against the evidence you’ll be asked to defend.

The Intrusion Survey
Golden-thread evidence validation

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Skyline’s fire stopping team at work on a London project

Fire Safety CPD Training

CPD and on-site training for project directors, building safety managers and site teams, so they can specify, install and hand over firestopping they can defend.

CPD seminars
Toolbox talks & lunch-and-learns
Golden-thread clinics

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Working with the world’s leading firestopping manufacturers

Nullifire

Protecta

Firefly

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Skyline approached the work with enthusiasm and professionalism, working methodically through each defect to correct vulnerabilities.

DM

David MillsBuilding management · 43-unit residential building

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Their attention to detail and commitment to ensuring the project was completed on time and within budget was impressive.

PS

Phillip SmithCommercial firestopping project

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Their attention to detail, commitment to quality, and customer-focused approach set them apart from other service providers.

SC

Sally ChristmasResidential firestopping project

Tom Ford, founder and director of Skyline Firestopping

Evidence pack deliverable

Why Skyline

Independent proof, not our word for it

Every penetration, joint and cavity is photographed before, during and after installation — always before cover-up — located and logged. The result is a documented record built to survive a fire, an RFI, a stop notice and 15-year record retention.

ExperienceThe people behind the wall have done this before, on the buildings that can’t get it wrong.
Third-party certifiedBM TRADA Q-Mark tested systems, installed exactly as tested and evidenced before cover-up. Independent proof, not our word for it.
Help, not hinderFlexible, pragmatic and collaborative. We make compliance easier to deliver, not another thing to fight.

When a survey surfaces defects, Remedial Firestopping closes each finding with evidence.

Free guides

Read the thinking behind the work

The Golden Thread Explained

Read the guide → Legislation explainer

Building Safety Act Gateways (1, 2 & 3)

Read the explainer → The free resource library

All our firestopping guides & explainers

Browse the library →

Tom Ford, founder of Skyline Firestopping

Founder

The founder

Why Skyline exists

“I was there the morning Grenfell burned. I couldn’t help them. So now I make sure the work hidden behind the wall never fails the people who can’t see it.”

Tom FordFounder, Skyline Firestopping · Making our cities safer

Tom fronts Skyline: founder-led specialist firestopping, with tested systems installed as tested and evidence captured for every installation.

Talk to a specialist

Looking for advice on your project?

Get in touch with one of our specialists to talk through your building, your programme and what compliance actually requires. You get clear advice from the BM TRADA Q-Mark certified team that installs the work and evidences every seal before cover-up.

✆0330 133 8450Standard-rate UK line ✉info@skylinefirestopping.comSurvey & quote enquiries ⌖Where Skyline worksGreater London & the M4 corridor

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Updated 25 October 2026 · By Tom Ford, Founder & Director