34 • FIRESAFETY & SECURITY
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Fire Doors : The First Line of Defence
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THE IMPORTANCE OF FIRE DOORS to the safety of a building and its occupants cannot be underestimated . Here , Graham Hulland , Product Marketing Manager at dormakaba highlights the key issues to take into account when it comes to making a robust specification .
Fire doors have an integral role to play in the passive protection of commercial , public and multi-occupancy buildings . The British Woodworking Federation , the organisation behind Fire Door Safety Week , states there are in excess of three million new fire doors bought and installed every year in the UK and yet worryingly , they also remain a significant area of neglect and often one of the first items to be downgraded within a specification .
Although it is acknowledged throughout the industry that a fire door needs compliant door hardware and ironmongery to maintain fire safety integrity , it is an area that is so saturated with complex legislation and a multitude of issues to take into consideration – that making an informed and robust specification has become harder to achieve .
Approved Document B of the Building Regulations states that where fire doors are to be self-closing they should be fitted with an Automatic Self Closing Device defined as : ‘ a device which is capable of closing the door from any angle against any latch fitted to the door .’ Any such door-closing device should comply with BS EN1154 Controlled Door Closing Devices and be CE marked to this standard . The product must also have a Declaration of Performance ( DoP ) detailing the characteristics of the component , as without this the CE mark is invalid .
Furthermore , today best practice is widely considered to mean only sourcing door ironmongery that is third party certified . All parts , including doors , closers , hinges , locks , intumescent seals , panic hardware , door furniture , hold-open and free-swing devices and signage should all be third party approved to provide assurance that products are fit for purpose . This is highlighted in Approved Document B , which states that :
“ Third party accredited product conformity certification schemes not only provide a means of identifying products , which have demonstrated that they have the requisite performance in fire , but additionally provide confidence that the products actually supplied are provided to the same specification or design as that tested / assessed .”
Schemes such as the BWF-CERTIFIRE Scheme provide third party and independently certificated products . This can help provide the assurance that the ironmongery or intumescents are fit for purpose . It is vital that all elements including closers , hinges , locks , seals , and panic hardware as well as any hold-open or free-swing devices fitted to the door are all third party approved . If non-CERTIFIRE approved ironmongery or intumescents are fitted on BWF- CERTIFIED fire doors , the certification of the complete fire door is invalidated . This can result in legal action being imposed and put lives and property at risk .
In all cases and from a legal perspective – all essential hardware should be CE marked as required within the Construction Products Regulation ( CPR ).
Robust specifications also rely on making an informed and educated choice . This is why it is essential to investigate the test certificates supplied by manufacturers as unfortunately this can be a source of confusion in itself . Should a manufacturer have a certificate
LOCKSMITHJOURNAL . CO . UK | SEP / OCT 2018