ICRA Office Hours · Recorded Session

ICRA Barrier Selection and NFPA 241 Compliance

ICRA Office Hours. June 26, 2026. Approximately 48 minutes. Featuring Robert Booth, MPH, CIH (Oncore, ICRA 2.0 Co-Author) and guest William Randall (STARC Systems), hosted by Olivia Stemke, MPH, PMP.

About this session

This first recorded ICRA Office Hours session focuses on one of the most misunderstood parts of the ICRA process, which is barrier protection. Robert Booth walks through why barriers matter, how the different barrier types map to the ICRA matrix, and what NFPA 241 actually requires. William Randall of STARC Systems then explains how compliant modular wall products are built and where installations commonly go wrong in the field. The session closes with an open question and answer segment.

Topics covered

  • Why barrier protection matters: isolating construction from occupied space, keeping the facility open, and staying compliant with the life safety code and infection control rules.
  • The ICRA matrix refresher: classes of precaution 1 through 5, work types A through D (A is non-invasive, D is demolition), and low, medium, high, and highest-risk areas.
  • Class 2 precautions, new in ICRA 2.0: small-scale work for facilities management only, and why hospitals need written standing orders.
  • What makes a barrier compliant: it must contain dust from floor to deck, stay smoke-tight, and meet a fire rating.
  • NFPA 241 requirements: when a temporary barrier must be one-hour fire rated versus when non-rated barriers are permitted in a fully sprinklered space.
  • Soft versus hard barriers and ECU units: fire-resistant poly, hard panels, and environmental containment units, and how each fits the requirements.
  • Common field failures: unsealed gaps, wrong door types, barriers over supply diffusers, and barriers that never reach the deck.
  • Modular reusable wall systems: STARC's Real Wall, Light Barrier, Fireblock Wall, and Fireblock Cap, plus negative-air integration and transport considerations.

Questions answered in this session

If we use a modular wall, do we still need a rated door or just the rated wall?

You need ratings on both. It is the entire wall system that has to be rated, including the doors and any penetrations through the wall, not just the wall panels.

What is the "pillow," and how is it used?

Fire-block pillows sit in the wall's perimeter tracks and add modularity to the height and length of the wall. They fill the gap between the track and the existing structure, and in a fire they expand to fill the void and keep the barrier smoke-tight.

How do you know if an area is "fully sprinklered"?

When the ceiling grid is removed, sprinkler heads cannot simply be left hanging. They must be turned up and positioned per NFPA 13 (roughly 21 to 22 inches from the ceiling) to count as fully sprinklered. If the sprinkler system is capped off or absent, the space is non-sprinklered and the barrier must be one-hour rated.

What are the solutions when a barrier must be one-hour rated but you cannot reach the deck?

Plan ahead so you can tie into an existing one-hour-rated wall. Options include running a soffit up to an existing firewall, or using a cap system that bumps out from an existing rated wall so you do not have to build all the way up through the MEP.

How do you know when to move from Class 3 to Class 4 precautions?

It depends on the work type and risk area. Class 3 containment can be as simple as closing a door while maintaining neutral-to-negative pressure. The matrix includes an asterisk provision for situations like large shell spaces, where full negative pressurization is not practical but the space can still be effectively contained and isolated. Class 4 and 5 are where the stricter NFPA 241 barrier ratings apply.

Who signs off that a barrier meets the fire rating?

It starts with the hospital's own policy. The specific barrier decision (plastic versus hard, rated versus non-rated) is made in the ICRA team meeting, where the infection preventionist, project manager, and others weigh the work scope and duration.

Coming up

Future sessions will cover negative pressurization, noise and vibration control, and other core ICRA topics. New office hours are posted here every month.

These sessions are free, and course takers can attend live and ask their own questions.

Explore the ICRA 2.0 online course →