» HERE THE GAI ’ S Technical Manager , Douglas Masterson , discusses the implications of these proposed changes :

This potential removal of national classes from Approved Document B and equivalents would have serious repercussions across the ironmongery and fire door industry . To give some background , ADB currently states that the performance of all fire doorsets should be based on one of the following :

• BS 476-22 ( with fire doors being classified as the likes of an FD30 )

• Classified in accordance with EN 13501-2 and tested to the relevant European method such as EN 1634 1 .

An example of a relevant classification for fire doors would be E30 . Under the new proposal the only classification permitted would be the second option with BS 476 22 no longer being accepted - although Ireland would accept this on existing buildings .

For architectural ironmongers this could have the following implications : Product would require test evidence to EN 1634-1 and be included within the door

manufacturer ’ s extended field of application ( EXAP ), under the European standards EN 15269 2 or EN 15269 3 . EXAP standards are the only EN standards allowed to go beyond the fire test standard to extend the number of third party approved applications . EXAPs are a rigid conservative system with no room for assessments as permitted under BS 476 22 .

These EXAP rules are also much narrower than the current status quo of BS 476 22 test evidence or assessment , and are specific to an individual door type / specification e . g . a door type

with specific core . Each door type / core requires its own set of EXAP rules as these are not transferable , therefore , if you are specifying a product that does not have correct test evidence to EN 1634-1 or it falls outside the EXAP scope for specific doorset , then your product will not be permitted . This will make it much more difficult to specify at the early stages when the door manufacturer has not been selected . It could put more onus on the door manufacturer to specify hardware as they will have greater awareness of what is included either within their test evidence or within

their EXAPs . It is also likely to change the relationship between door manufacturer and architectural ironmonger .

For door hardware manufacturers , it could mean the role of the current assessments used for door hardware would change under the new system . Under the current rules it is not generally required to test hardware from both directions but under EN 1634 1 DIAP rules , this would no longer be the case and restraining hardware such as hinges and locks would need to be tested from both directions . This would increase testing costs for hardware