Fire-Resistant Gypsum Board

Use it where the drawing identifies a wall or ceiling that must slow fire and the contractor can follow one documented design for the required time.

• Walls or ceilings where the drawings clearly mark which areas need fire protection and for how long
• Projects that can match the exact board, wall frame, material inside the wall, layer count, and screw pattern to official documentation
• Sites that can include doors, access panels, pipes, cables, and ducts in the same fire-protection plan

Do not approve the wall from a board thickness or a one-hour label alone. Doors, openings for pipes and cables, moisture, sound control, and every change to the documented wall design need their own review.

• The required wall performance and complete wall design have not been decided
• No current document shows the wall frame, material inside the wall, board layers, and screw pattern
• The quote does not say who will seal and inspect the areas around doors, access panels, pipes, cables, or ducts

A familiar product name can still be wrong if one hidden part of the documented wall has changed.

Which documented wall design will be followed?

Ask for the document number, wall type, and required time. Compare the wall-frame size and spacing, the material inside the wall, the number of board layers, and the screw pattern as one set.

Is the exact board named?

Record the manufacturer, product, thickness, and sheet size instead of writing only fire-resistant board. Confirm that the named board appears in the document for the selected wall.

How are openings through the wall protected?

Door frames, access panels, electrical boxes, pipes, cables, and ducts interrupt the flat wall. The drawing and quote should say who closes each opening, which approved material is used, and when the work is inspected.

Does the wall also need moisture, sound, or thermal performance?

When several requirements apply, choose a documented wall that addresses all of them. A fire-resistant board name does not settle the rest of the wall design.

These examples come from official manufacturer pages. Do not choose a fire-resistant board by thickness or name alone; verify the complete wall or ceiling assembly and the document that names the selected product.

Approve the parts that cannot be checked after finishing, and keep them together with the drawings.

• Mark every wall or ceiling that needs fire protection, the required time, the wall height, and where each finish begins and ends on the drawings.
• Keep the document number and current technical information with the board manufacturer, product, thickness, sheet size, and layer count.
• Confirm the wall frame, material inside the wall, screw pattern, and board joints offset from one layer to the next before the second face of the wall closes.
• Put doors, access panels, electrical boxes, pipes, cables, and ducts into the work schedule with the person responsible for closing and inspecting each opening.

After decoration, the board type and hidden layers are difficult to identify, so the original records become part of the repair plan.

• Before replacing a damaged section, confirm the original board, number of layers, wall frame, material inside the wall, and screw pattern.
• If a new pipe or cable passes through the wall, restore the approved protection around that opening as part of the same job.
• When a product is discontinued or its size changes, do not substitute a similar sheet by thickness alone; review the current documented wall with the designer.