FIRE SAFETY
How the wrong fixings could render dampers ineffective
Andrew Steel, managing director at independent ventilation, air, and water hygiene specialist, Airmec Essential Services, highlights the dangers in the event of a fire of dampers having been installed incorrectly using steel self-drilling screws. He also emphasises the need for regular inspection, testing, and maintenance, of such critical fire safety systems.
Warnings about fire dampers seem to come thick and fast. Just last year (see HEJ, November 2022) I reminded this magazine’s readers in an article I wrote that mandatory annual inspection of such essential safety devices depends upon there being ready access to them – typically an inspection hatch each side. Why system designers would have failed to specify these in the first place is an argument for another day, but any savings made by leaving them off the specification at the time are being eliminated by the necessity – and the associated costs – of having to retrofit them to meet HTM 03 inspection requirements. Now we are seeing the industry and users of fire damper systems waking up to another ticking time-bomb – the use of steel self-drilling (Tek) screws to install fire dampers. We might assume that designers and installers did what was necessary by following manufacturer instructions in good faith. However, a disconnect may have occurred, with the majority of installations we see having ductwork connected to fire dampers using steel self-drilling screws. Again, any savings made by having a speedier installation are being more than wiped out by the costs of remedial work. The legacy of the miscalculation now falls on the next generation of Authorising Engineers and estate management teams. As government has been spurred into action on the issue, there’s also urgency to act, but not, of course, a pot of extra money.
Ensure that all fire dampers are correctly fitted You will doubtless understand by now that you need to survey your dampers and review your asset register to ensure that all dampers are correctly fitted, and then plan remedial works as necessary where they are not. This is essential in addition to the routine inspection and testing which should be undertaken annually in healthcare premises to comply with HTM 03. It is work that involves multiple skillsets.
Installing hatches is pretty straightforward to enable a proper risk survey and ongoing inspection, cleaning, and testing.
Take time to plan the work to avoid over- and under-skilling. The person who can survey and report on the condition and installation of your fire damper infrastructure is not the same as the individual who will typically undertake the routine inspection, testing, and cleaning, of dampers. Their proficiency levels and hourly rates are vastly different. Don’t panic or take a knee-jerk decision; draw breath and take the opportunity to scope and price the work properly and fairly to all parties. We don’t need to let this apparent anomaly and the urgency attached to it turn into a cash cow for the fire damper installation and services industries. That was surely not the intention of the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) in, quite rightly, spotlighting the risk. Work with your service contractor to build a matrix of tasks to be undertaken, and the skills needed to complete them. All of this should be based on a judgement of the risk attached to the various issues. The current concern surrounds the use of the wrong type of fixings – self-drilling or Tek screws – to fix ventilation ductwork to dampers. As fire damper inspectors
and testers, we can attest to having seen enough instances of this to know the issue is a real and live concern, although no-one knows for sure how common it is. So, you need a strategy both for checking all your dampers, and scheduling remedial work as necessary. Correctly installed dampers must be secured by fixings such as aluminium or nylon, that melt in a fire, and allow the duct to break away; otherwise a collapsing duct could pull the damper out of place and break the seal between the fire zones.
Why now? The services industry, and that includes Airmec, has been successful in boosting the uptake of fire damper testing and inspection across all sectors, and that has eventually led to there being a critical mass of feedback on the use of inappropriate fixings. The issue cannot now be ignored – and, quite rightly – the industry itself is pushing it to the forefront. The alarm bell was sounded last year by BESA (the Building Engineering Services Association), and the strength of the warning has successfully precipitated government action from the UK’s product
October 2023 Health Estate Journal 59
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