SteelMaster: Powering Fire Protection coatings for Data Centres in Asia

In South East Asia, major international hyperscalers are investing heavily in data centre infrastructure to support growing demand for cloud services and AI. Malaysia and Thailand are among the fastest-growing markets in the region.

When one of the world's leading technology companies needed a fire protection partner that could combine international standards with local expertise for a data centre project in Malaysia, Jotun was selected to support the project. The successful collaboration led to a further opportunity to support the same customer on a data centre development in Thailand.

While fast-track construction is often a priority, data centres are expected to perform reliably for decades. Selecting the right fire protection solution for structural steel is therefore critical. Rework caused by specification or application issues can impact project schedules and costs, while effective fire protection plays an important role in safeguarding people, infrastructure and business continuity.

Jotun has been supporting some of the world’s leading data centre developers in Malaysia and Thailand in recent years. Combining SteelMaster intumescent coatings, fire engineering expertise and strong local presence, we help customers meet demanding performance requirements while navigating local regulations and project complexities.

The challenge

In Malaysia, our customer needed a fire protection provider with a successful track record in supporting other data centre builds, global manufacturing capacity to supply at speed, and local knowledge to ensure effective project delivery.

“You can find international suppliers who have limited knowledge about the challenges of local markets, and local providers that don’t comply with global standards. But Jotun delivers both global strength and local expertise, which made the decision easier for our customer,” says Vaibhav Thorat, Sales Manager Infrastructure (Malaysia and Singapore).

In Thailand, the challenge was different.

“Changes in country regulations require varying structural steel fire protection ratings. This meant our customer not only needed the same level of reassurance in consistent performance reliability and global safety standards carried over from Malaysia, but also the local expertise to clear complex regulatory and permitting requirements,” says Kaewpisut Wangpuchakane, Sales Manager Infrastructure, Thailand.

The solution

Every data centre project has unique requirements, and fire protection solutions must be tailored accordingly.

In Malaysia, Jotun worked closely with local architects, structural engineers and project stakeholders to demonstrate SteelMaster as a compliant and effective solution, building on its track record from other data centre projects in the region. Malaysia's data centre building code requires a flat 120 minutes of fire resistance across the structure. Jotun Fire Engineering Services worked with the project team to optimise coating thickness and application methods as volumes increased sharply at every phase.

In Thailand, where fire protection codes can range from 60 to 120 minutes, SteelMaster’s compliance with the highest global standards and consistent performance provided reassurance to the customer. Our Malaysian work demonstrated the proof. We also provided all the fire engineering documentation needed for local construction permits.

Throughout both projects, our qualified engineers worked closely with local teams to provide fire engineering expertise and intumescent coating application knowledge, offering advice and calculations, and bringing the strength and reassurance of our global experience to every challenge.

The outcome

In Malaysia, Jotun has successfully completed 4 of the 16 planned phases, with SteelMaster now specified in the customer’s project standards. As the customer continues to expand its data centre portfolio, Jotun is supporting efforts to establish a more harmonised approach to fire protection across multiple developments.

In Thailand, Jotun completed the first three-phase package and has subsequently been entrusted with additional phases of the project. The collaboration reflects the confidence built through consistent delivery, technical expertise and strong local support.

Data centres are critical infrastructure where reliability, safety and long-term performance are essential. By combining local market knowledge, global standards and specialist fire engineering expertise, Jotun helps customers deliver projects with confidence.

Let's discuss your data centre fire protection requirements.