The Finnish Ministry of the Environment has provided regulations and guidelines in compliance with the Land Use and Building Act concerning fire safety in buildings. Section E1 in the National Building Code, ”Fire Safety of Buildings, Regulations and Guidelines 1997”, states that necessary pipes, shafts, ducts, cables and flues may be mounted through a fire-separating compound provided that the fire-separating capacity of the compound is not essentially reduced. In practice this can only be achieved by using type-approved firestopping materials.

With regard to fire safety, the biggest need for improvement is in the penetrations of PVC pipes, such as wastewater pipes, and in the joints of construction elements. For instance, the melting of a wastewater pipe in a fire rapidly causes gaps through which smoke, toxic gas and fire can easily spread.