FIRE SAFETY


A real need to prioritise fire damper compliance


Liam Nevins TIFireE, Product Technical manager – Fire Protection at Trox UK, highlights the importance of healthcare estates and facilities teams making sure that all fire dampers across their estate are maintained in efficient working order, both to ensure the safety of all their buildings’ users, and to meet regulatory requirements. He also outlines some of the additional requirements imposed in this area by the Building Safety Act 2022.


A Fire Dampers guidance document (NAAD22) was published in 2022, clarifying the responsibilities of building owners and occupiers in relation to fire dampers in their buildings, in addition to those of their HVAC system suppliers. There is evidence to suggest, however, that of an estimated 100 million fire dampers in UK buildings, many are still not meeting regulatory requirements. The delay in meeting compliance is a problem for all existing UK building stock, but there is a particular urgency for those with responsibility for healthcare estates. This is because sites such as hospitals are designated as Higher Risk Buildings under the Building Safety Act 2022. This entails additional responsibilities, which need to be addressed by both organisations and designated individuals. This article reviews the ways in which fire dampers are employed in health estates, provides details of the requirements now in place for compliance with the Building Safety Act 2022, and offers practical guidance for the selection and installation of fire dampers in buildings such as hospitals, care homes, and medical centres.


Fire dampers: an overview Fire dampers are installed in the ductwork of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems to isolate and prevent the spread of fire. Buildings are divided into fire compartments. Central air supply is usually managed by air-handling units, and every room is connected with a duct for supply and extract air. The ducts run horizontally and vertically through the entire building, passing through different fire compartments – see Figure 1. A method to prevent the passage of smoke and fire from one compartment to another must be provided wherever the duct passes through a fire compartment line. Fire dampers are installed in walls or ceilings with resistance to fire, to provide protection. When a rapid rise in temperature occurs, the fire damper is activated to close. As shown in Figure 2, without a fire damper in place, fire and smoke is able to spread rapidly through the ducts into other fire compartments. As highlighted in Figure 3, in normal use, the fire damper


is held open by a fusible link. When the temperature across the fusible link reaches 72°C, the blade is released and a mechanical spring closes the damper blade. Fire dampers with motorised control (actuated) are also widely used. To prevent the spread of ‘cold’ smoke transferring through the duct (smoke generated by the fire before the 72 °C release temperature is reached), fire dampers can be supplied with a spring return actuator (fail safe close), which will close the damper upon activation signal from the fire alarm panel (smoke detector).


Use of fire dampers is extremely widespread in UK building stock. In 2021 BSRIA estimated that around 146,000 mechanical curtain dampers and 70,000 motorised dampers are installed every year. These are for new-builds and replacements, which account for just 1 per cent of the annual market, indicating that the total number of dampers already installed in UK buildings could be as high as 100 million.


Employer’s responsibility Since the introduction of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, it is the employer’s responsibility to maintain its fire safety systems. In order to comply, damper testing should be carried out annually as a minimum. A fire damper test requires a visual inspection of the damper, and an activation or a drop test. Complying with testing procedures can be problematic, however. Everyday maintenance and minor adaptations – such as an electrician drilling a hole in a wall to run a cable, can impact on fire damper compliance as a fire wall could be breached, undermining the fire and smoke compartmentalisation strategy. Wear and tear (for example airborne contaminants) can also compromise the effectiveness of fire dampers.


A number of British Standards are in place with regard to fire dampers. These define: the performance of the fire dampers themselves; testing of fire dampers (particularly during the design of the units); installation methods according to the supporting construction, and classification of units to make product selection clearer for specifiers. There are new harmonised product standards for each of these issues: n BS EN 15650: Ventilation for buildings – Fire dampers, which defines basic performance and


October 2025 Health Estate Journal 73


Figure 1: Supply and extract air ducts run horizontally and vertically through entire buildings, passing through different fire compartments.


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