Firestop Documentation Calculator
Estimate documentation volume, inspection reports, and administrative costs for firestop record-keeping.
About this calculator
This is the one calculator in the fire-stopping hub that has nothing to do with a wall assembly — it estimates the paperwork burden of proving the firestop work was actually done to spec. Every penetration generates four baseline records (location, UL system number, materials used, installer identity) plus two more if Photo documentation is enabled, so that single toggle moves the item count by a third at the default 100-penetration project: 600 items with photos versus 400 without. That gap compounds through Documentation hours (25 vs 15 at default) and Documentation cost ($2,405 vs $1,755), because photo capture and filing take real admin time at $65/hour.
Third-Party Inspection defaults to off and, when off, contributes nothing — but flip it on and the calculator adds one inspection report per floor plus three inspection-hours per floor, which at the default 5-floor project raises Inspection reports from 6 to 11 and pushes total cost up by roughly $975. Unique UL Systems drives only the system-data-sheet count (one sheet per unique listed assembly) and a share of the page-count estimate; it does not affect item count or hours at all. None of these figures reflect a real project's actual documentation software, AHJ-specific submittal requirements, or the labor rate your own admin staff is paid — they are generic per-item and per-floor estimates meant for early budgeting, not a substitute for your jurisdiction's special-inspection checklist.
Inputs
Results
Total doc items
600
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter Total penetrations and Number of floors for the project — both drive item counts and inspection reports directly.
- Enter Unique UL systems — this only changes the UL system data sheet count and part of the page estimate, not item count or hours.
- Toggle Photo documentation (0/1) on or off: it adds two records and 0.1 hour per penetration when on.
- Toggle Third-party inspection (0/1) on if a special inspector is required — it adds one report and three hours per floor.
- Review Total doc items and Documentation cost ($) for early admin-time budgeting.
How the result changes with Total penetrations
| Total penetrations | Total doc items |
|---|---|
| 50 | 300 |
| 75 | 450 |
| 150 | 900 |
| 250 | 1,500 |
What each input means
- Total penetrations
- Total firestop penetrations in the project.
- Number of floors
- Building floors with firestop work.
- Unique UL systems
- Number of different UL-listed systems used.
- Photo documentation (0/1)
- Before/after photos required per penetration.
- Third-party inspection (0/1)
- Third-party special inspection required.
What each result means
- Total doc items
- Individual documentation entries needed.
- UL system data sheets
- Unique system documentation to maintain.
- Inspection reports
- Total inspection reports to produce.
- Documentation hours
- Estimated hours for documentation work.
- Estimated total pages
- Approximate pages in the documentation package.
- Documentation cost ($)
- Administrative cost at $65/hr.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersTotal penetrations = 100, Number of floors = 5, Unique UL systems = 8, Photo documentation (0/1) = 1 = 5 input(s) provided
- Calculate Total doc itemsTotal doc items600 = 600
- Calculate UL system data sheetsUL system data sheets8 = 8
- Calculate Inspection reportsInspection reports = inspectionReports + thirdPartyReports6 = 6
Engine last updated . Checked against 2 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does toggling Photo documentation change so many outputs at once?
Because photos are added at two baseline categories simultaneously: they add two extra documentation items per penetration (before/after photos, on top of the four baseline records) and an extra 0.1 hour of admin time per penetration. At the default 100-penetration project that's 200 more documentation items and 10 more hours, which together add roughly $650 to the estimated cost.
What does Third-party inspection actually add if I turn it on?
One additional inspection report per floor and three additional inspection-hours per floor, on top of the standard one-report-per-floor-plus-summary baseline. At the default 5-floor project, Inspection reports rises from 6 to 11 and estimated cost rises by about $975, since a third-party inspector's coordination and paperwork stack on top of the contractor's own records.
Does adding more Unique UL systems increase the documentation item count?
No. Unique UL systems only changes the UL system data sheet count — one sheet per distinct listed assembly — and contributes a small, separate term to the estimated page count. Total doc items and Documentation hours are driven entirely by Total penetrations, Number of floors, and Photo documentation, not by how many different systems are used.
Is the $65/hr admin rate something I can change?
No, it's fixed in the formula, not an input on this page. Documentation cost is always Documentation hours plus inspection hours, multiplied by $65. If your own administrative or coordination rate is different, scale the Documentation cost output by the ratio of your rate to $65 rather than editing an input here.
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