More than four years following the tragic fire in the Grenfell Tower, we are still waiting for the full legislative response from the government. While it is accepted that the public inquiry has yet to complete its work, are there measures, perhaps including some of those contained in Dame Judith
The NHBC has announced a U-turn on its decision to insist all fire frames must be installed and sealed at the pre-plaster inspection stage. The amended guidance was published in a new technical update and comes after The British Woodworking Federation, representing the concerns of its members and their clients, responded to a
Thousands of fire doors in blocks of flats across Brighton and Hove have failed fire safety tests and will need to be replaced, costing the council over £2.5 million. Dozens of council flats in the area were found to be using fire doors that could not withstand heat for the
The Shuttle Intelligent Fire Door Retainer has been launched by Bull Products. This latest fire protection product is an intelligent fire safety device designed to close fire doors quickly during an emergency, which makes it an ideal solution for construction sites where there are multiple fire doors that are propped
More than four years following the tragic fire in the Grenfell Tower, we are still waiting for the full legislative response from the government. While it is accepted that the public inquiry has yet to complete its work, are there measures, perhaps including some of those contained in Dame Judith Hackitt’s report from 2018, which could have been introduced already? The Door & Hardware Federation (DHF) is convinced that there are initiatives which could be undertaken today, without pre-judging any findings of the public inquiry. For example, chief among these would be the introduction of a legal requirement for third-party certification of fire-resisting doorsets. The Hackitt report calls for third-party certification of safety-critical construction products and it is clear that fire doorsets at Grenfell failed to protect the landings and the stairwell from smoke and fire spreading from the flats. This failure to protect the escape route had fatal consequences. Fire door certification could be introduced without affecting requirements relating to other components or structures which may be still under consideration. There are several certification schemes in existence today covering manufacture, installation and inspection of fire doorsets, but, even so, some time would inevitably be required for existing facilities to be expanded. This makes it all the more important to begin the process now, without waiting for decisions to be made in other areas. “Fire-resisting doorsets are obviously safety-critical and should therefore be subject to third party certification, at least when the intended use is in high-risk buildings,” explains DHF’s General Manager and Secretary, Michael Skelding. “There really should be little need for discussion on this. If we wait for all the other issues raised by Grenfell to be debated before dealing with this one, we are missing a golden opportunity to make a significant improvement in fire safety in high-risk residential buildings”. DHF’s recommendations come on the cusp of this year’s Fire Door Safety Week, a national safety awareness campaign that was first launched in 2013 and is, this year, taking place from 20th – 26th September. DHF has been a long-standing supporter of the objectives of Fire Door Safety Week, and as always, the federation will be putting its weight behind the campaign’s objectives to raise awareness of the critical role that fire doors play in saving lives and protecting property. “We are very pleased to be able to support Fire Door Safety Week once again this year, and applaud its efforts to increase the public’s understanding of the role that fire doors play,” says Michael. “We continue to stress that the use of fire doorsets, correctly installed and with robust fire door maintenance procedures, are a vital part of fire safety and urge those in positions of responsibility to seek the correct training with regards to installation and maintenance. Equally important is that companies carrying out the manufacturing, installation and repair of these doorsets are also certified.”
The NHBC has announced a U-turn on its decision to insist all fire frames must be installed and sealed at the pre-plaster inspection stage. The amended guidance was published in a new technical update and comes after The British Woodworking Federation, representing the concerns of its members and their clients, responded to a directive issued by the NHBC in November, and which came into effect in January, which was a requirement to install and seal all fire door frames at the pre-plaster inspection stage. We considered this a backward step for the industry. Within this, NHBC introduced the rule that all fire frames should be installed, have the fire stopping materials put in place between the frame and the wall, and be sealed at the pre-plaster inspection stage to demonstrate the product had been affixed to the partition correctly. Up until then, NHBC inspectors had visited properties at the pre-plaster stage. The next time they inspected was when the house was almost complete, with all doors fully installed and painted. This meant that the second inspection was too late to verify the correct installation of fire frames, but the first was too early. Unfortunately, the NHBC was not willing to add an additional visit to inspect the doors after the plaster but before the architraves were fitted. The change caused house builders and door set suppliers to raise concerns as it was impossible to supply door sets, which offer greater control over the production of the assembly and potentially the performance of the completed fire door assembly. This was despite fire safety being in the spotlight more than ever and door sets widely being seen as the way forward to ensure compliance and improve safety. Door leaf manufacturers insist that doors are not on-site during wet trades and high levels of moisture. Having door leaves on site at the pre-plaster stage, was required by this new rule, but this could have influenced any product warranty and, potentially, their effectiveness at withstanding fire. The updated advice now offers three options for installers and contractors, which help maintain both the high levels of safety offered by door sets and testing for integrity: Option 1: Fire door frames installed at pre-plaster stage: This was the original requirement from the update in October 2020 and is still a valid option. Option 2: Fire door linings installed at pre-plaster stage Fire door linings could be plywood or part of the fire door set provided by the manufacturer or supplier. The lining would be installed at pre-plaster to allow the fitting of the frame at a later stage of the build process. The fire door frame should fit tightly within the plywood lining.* Option 3: Fire door frames installed after pre-plaster Fire door frames can be installed post-plaster and architraves not fitted until satisfactory inspection by NHBC has been completed. Once installed, the site manager would notify their Building Inspector that the door set is ready for inspection. The Building Inspector would then inspect the door frame installation on their next visit to site, thus negating the need for a separate inspection. The NHBC is also conducting a trial to assess the viability of accepting UKAS-accredited installers (third-party certificated) as an additional option. This would be in line with the BWF Fire Door Alliance Mission statement, which is; To ensure that only third-party certified fire doors, installed by third-party certified installers, should be used in the UK. Kevin Underwood, Technical Director for the BWF, who worked closely with British Woodworking Federation Fire Door Manufacturer members and some of their clients, said: “We are very grateful that the NHBC has taken our concerns and comments on board and have looked again at its guidance.” “The three options now give much more flexibility and allow for fire secure door sets to be fitted and inspected at the appropriate time, rather than making it all-but impossible to use them.” “It demonstrates that consultation with industry on these types of decisions, intended to further improve quality and safety, is essential.” *Installers must ensure that the certification for the door/door set allows this type of installation. If you are unsure please check with the door manufacturer/supplier.
Thousands of fire doors in blocks of flats across Brighton and Hove have failed fire safety tests and will need to be replaced, costing the council over £2.5 million. Dozens of council flats in the area were found to be using fire doors that could not withstand heat for the required 30 minutes. The doors in question are all at least 10 years old and were made by a company called Masterdor, which recently went bust. In high-rise blocks, the total number of faulty fire doors reached 1585 and there were 669 noted in ‘other flats.’ Councillor John Allcock, the new chair of the council’s Housing and New Homes Committee, said: “We have been in constant contact with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government since they told us that Masterdor fire doors failed the 30-minute fire resistance standard in their tests. “We want to reassure residents that our highest priority is their safety.” The council are working with the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service to reviewing their fire safety practices. John Allcock continued, “The advice we’ve been given on these fire doors is that the risk to public safety remains low as a building’s fire protection uses a range of measures and a failure of one should not significantly change the overall safety. “We’ve carried out additional fire risk assessments on the high-rise buildings where these doors are fitted to look specifically at the potential impacts of the doors failing within 30 minutes and the assessments confirm that the risk remains low.” Original SourceBrighton and Hove News
The Shuttle Intelligent Fire Door Retainer has been launched by Bull Products. This latest fire protection product is an intelligent fire safety device designed to close fire doors quickly during an emergency, which makes it an ideal solution for construction sites where there are multiple fire doors that are propped open during work on site. With fire doors becoming a major requirement in the fire risk management plan, as written into HSG168 and other safety standards, it is illegal to prop or hold fire doors open with door stops or other items. The Shuttle Intelligent Fire Door retainer provides a legal way of holding fire doors open, but closing upon a fire signal. “According to HSE, each year there are a number of serious fires on construction sites and buildings undergoing refurbishment – many of which could be avoided by careful planning and control of work activities,” said Bradley Markham, Director at Bull Products. Shuttle has been designed to react only to the acoustic signature of the learnt alarm sound and will discard all other alarm sounds, thanks to its dual listening technology. Once na alarm sounds, the device activates the fire door to close, ensuring fire escape routes are protected at all times. With flexible setting of times and dates and an intuitive setup menu, Shuttle is easy to use and offers additional features including the easy night release function and a fault reader. “We are delighted to be offering customers a brand new product that we believe will take fire safety to new heights and ensure workers’ safety is front of mind,” Bradley concluded. Bull Products is an independently-owned manufacturer and importer of life-saving products for the construction industry. Its core range of innovative products include fire protection and fall arrest equipment, but with the ever increasing customer demand, Bull have carefully selected a range of environmental products, signage and first aid solutions to enhance and complete a truly world class offering.
