The problem
Institutional and commercial buildings need structural steel protected to a certified fire-resistance rating — with the film thickness and evidence a building-control authority will accept.
Our approach
Intumescent Fire Protection Coating
Certified intumescent fire protection coating by City Painting Ghana — loading-calculated to a target fire-resistance rating, applied to verified film thickness, and documented for building-control sign-off.
The Challenge
Exposed structural steel loses strength as it heats. In a fire, an unprotected steel frame can reach failure temperature long before occupants are clear, which is why building regulations require steelwork in institutional and commercial buildings to carry a certified period of fire resistance — commonly 30, 60, 90, or 120 minutes. Intumescent coating is the system that delivers that protection while keeping the steel visible, but it only works if it is the right product applied at the right thickness for the section being protected.
That is where most coating jobs go wrong. The required film thickness is not a single number — it is calculated from the steel’s section factor and the target rating, and it varies member by member. Apply too little and the certified rating is not achieved; apply blind without measurement and there is no evidence it was achieved at all. A building-control officer or fire engineer will not accept a coated frame on the basis that it looks done. They require a coating tested to a recognised standard, loaded to a calculated thickness, and documented section by section.
The City Painting Ghana Solution
City Painting Ghana delivers intumescent fire protection as an engineered, evidenced system rather than a decorative coat. Each engagement begins with a schedule of the steel to be protected — section sizes, exposure conditions, and the target fire-resistance rating from the fire strategy — from which the required dry-film thickness is calculated for each member group using the coating manufacturer’s loading data.
Application follows a controlled build: substrate prepared and primed to the system specification, intumescent base appled to the calculated wet-film stages, and a sealer or topcoat where the environment or finish requires it. Dry-film thickness is measured across the structure as it is built so that every member group reaches its calculated loading before sign-off. The coatings specified are tested to recognised fire-resistance standards — BS 476 Part 21 and EN 13501-2 for European-classified systems, ASTM E119 where North American testing is the reference — so the protection installed carries a certification basis a building-control authority recognises.
Documentation & Process Specification
Every fire-protection package is delivered with a complete evidence file: the steel schedule and section factors; the fire-resistance rating and the loading calculation per member group; substrate preparation graded to ISO 8501; primer and intumescent system data sheets and test references (BS 476 / EN 13501 / ASTM E119 as applicable); dry-film thickness readings recorded across the structure and verified to ISO 2808; and a coated-member sign-off register. The building owner, fire engineer, and building-control authority inherit a traceable record that ties each protected section to its certified rating.
Typical Engagement Profile
These engagements typically cover exposed structural steel in institutional buildings, commercial frames, atria, and refurbishment projects where existing steel must be brought up to a current fire rating. They run in coordination with the fire engineer, the structural and main contractor, and the building-control authority — the kind of certification-led, evidence-first delivery City Painting Ghana has run for institutional and commercial clients across Accra, Kumasi, and Tema since 1983.
Outcomes
- Structural steel protected to a certified, calculated fire-resistance rating
- Film thickness measured and verified section by section, not assumed
- A coating system with a recognised test basis (BS 476 / EN 13501 / ASTM E119)
- A documented evidence file that supports building-control sign-off