Fire door safety – design, test and certification.

Legislation in the fire safety sector is certainly undergoing a transformation in 2021, with the Fire Safety Act being finalised, as well as the introduction of the Building Safety Bill and its related secondary legislation. However, those in the industry are quick to point towards the need for more, such as ensuring products designed to keep buildings and occupants safe are fit for purpose.

Concerns over fire door safety have been ongoing for some time – not least because of the issues raised in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. One of the most important aspects of passive fire protection and compartmentation measures, fire doors should be tested against the elements to ensure they are able to withstand fires for the requisite time, helping to delay the spread of fire from one area to another.

To ensure fire doors do live up to standard and don’t fail when it matters most, many industry professionals highlight the importance of ensuring that those doorsets that are specified and installed have been verified by independent third-party certification bodies, such as UL or the Building Research Establishment (BRE). It is also something that Dame Judith Hackitt advised for all fire safety-related products in her independent report following the Grenfell Tower fire.

Speaking about the issue, the Door & Hardware Federation (DHF)’s General Manager and Secretary, Michael Skelding, notes: “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.  Read more….

The importance of third-party certification in fire door safety