TESTING & CERTIFICATION
Fire door ratings
A fire door rating means how long the door will be able to resist fire and as stated It can be tested to BS 476-22 or EN 1634-1 , the prefix of the door therefore relates to the standard to which the door has been tested as well as the length of time the fire door will resist fire .
Smoke leakage standards
The current standards applicable are BS 476 part 31:1 1983 and EN 1634-3 : 2004 . Although these are often described as smoke tests , the standards test for the amount of air leakage from the perimeter of the sample whilst being subjected to both negative and positive pressures .
The results are expressed at 25 pascals above & below atmospheric pressure . Third Party Certification schemes will also introduce cycling testing to evaluate the durability of the seal in the working environment , typically the seals will undergo 100,000 opening & closing actions & are then retested to establish the effect of wear & tear on the smoke seals performance .
Sometimes doors are required to be both fire and smoke control doors . This means there will be smoke seals as well as intumescent seal in either the entire perimeter of the door or in the frame . Sometimes these seals are combined as a single intumescent and smoke seal .
Third party certification
Independent third-party certification schemes assure performance , quality , reliability and traceability of fire protection product such as fire doors and ironmongery . Third-party certification for fire doors is a process of testing and verifying a fire door ’ s design , performance , manufacturing process and quality assurance of procedures and supporting documentation .
A company that seeks third-party certification is independently audited to ensure that the management and manufacturing processes , and supporting systems , are in place to ensure consistency with the fire door / doorset that was initially tested . The product is also subjected to regular scrutiny , with periodic testing taking place on standard products to ensure that the test wasn ’ t just a once-only event .
When third party testing is conducted , a manufacturer or supplier provides an independent test laboratory with samples . The samples are tested to the required standard and a test report is issued . The information contained in the test report relates to the specific sample that was tested and to the unconfirmed information provided by the sponsor of the test . Therefore , test reports relate only to the products / materials / samples that were tested and do not necessarily relate to on-going production . Test reports are a statement of fact in relation to what occurred when the test was conducted . Minor changes in the composition of a material from that which was tested may significantly affect the performance of the product / material and may therefore invalidate any test results that have been obtained .
Third party certification can be ‘ broken ’ and invalidated using incompatible components including ironmongery , frames , seals , glazed apertures . Full consideration of the required specification is needed at a very early point in the project , often certification gets broken because allowance for specific parts has not been taken into consideration when the door was selected .
When it comes to fire door certification it is the door certification which is the trump card , and which overrides any certification relating to other parts of ironmongery . Breaking certification not only invalidates certification but present a risk to users of the fire door that it may not work when required .
It should also be noted that manufacturing third party certification isn ’ t the full story , a compliant installation , a regular regime of maintenance as well as a programme of ongoing inspection is critical to ensure a fire door will work when needed .
Where can I get further information on this topic ?
GAI members can avail of GAI / DHF Technical Briefing “ Guidance on conformity marking , third party testing assessments and certification ” and the GAI Specifiers Guide “ Ironmongery for fire and escape doors ” or contact GAI Technical Manger Douglas Masterson on technical @ gai . org . uk
CLEARVIEW-UK . COM NOVEMBER 2022
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