5 Top Fire Door Tips for Landlords
In residential environments, fire doors give tenants the vital time they need to evacuate their homes in an emergency situation. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the...
Fire doors are often the first line of defence from a fire, providing passive protection by delaying the spread of it and enabling occupants time to escape. Despite this, their correct specification, manufacture, installation, inspection and ongoing maintenance requirements aren’t always fully understood by those responsible for them.
Fire Door Safety Week (FDSW) is a national campaign that aims to draw attention to the crucial role that fire doors play by engaging and educating the public, the construction industry and property owners. The campaign encourages building owners and users to check the operation and condition of their fire doors, urging them to report doors that appear unsatisfactory. Another key objective of the campaign is to link together the initiatives of the many organisations within the fire door and passive fire protection industries.
This year’s campaign runs from Monday 23rd until Sunday 29th September and highlights the role that fire doors play in protecting us while we’re sleeping and therefore focuses on doors within multiple-occupancy buildings. The catastrophic impact poorly performing fire doors can have within a residential tower block was exposed by the Grenfell Tower incident. As a result, UK fire door manufacturers were requested by the Government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government to have their products tested. The results, which include a summary of this investigation were recently released, so FDSW’s focus is very timely. ASDMA are proud to say that all of our members, that were requested to submit sample fire doors for independent third-party fire testing, passed with flying colours. This means that their products comply with the mandatory legal safety standards set out under Approved Document B of the Building Regulations. Fire Door Safety Week, launched in 2013, is led by the British Woodworking Federation (BWF), the BWF Fire Door Alliance (an evolution of the BWF CERTIFIRE Scheme), the Fire Door Inspection Scheme (FDIS) and was supported at conception by the Government’s Fire Kills campaign. These organisations endorse third-party certification of the manufacture and installation of timber fire doors and doorsets, and promote raising safety standards.
In support of the campaign, ASDMA will be sharing the valuable advice and excellent resources provided throughout Fire Door Safety Week via our social media channels, as will many of our members.
To find out more about Fire Door Safety Week or pledge your support, visit; www.firedoorsafetyweek.co.uk