Feature
BS 476 To EN 1634-1: What Does it Mean for Door Hardware?
Daniel May of Consort Architectural Hardware discusses the proposed standard change from BS 476 to EN 1634-1 and the impact it may have on door hardware and the built environment should it pass.
Building regulations are designed to govern the methods and materials used throughout construction projects. For decades, modern regulations have developed to form a minimum standard and without them, many structures would be considered dangerous and risking the safety of their occupants.
Where fire safety is concerned, legislation plays a vital role in ensuring a building and its design elements will behave appropriately in a fire situation. For fire doors and their hardware specifically, the UK has been following a dual approach to performance classification British Standard 476: 221 EN 1634-12
until now, with the (BS 476) running concurrently with . Each assessment method is designed to grade
doorsets between FD30 and FD240 depending on how long they can resist fire.
Daniel May of Consort Architectural Hardware explains: “Over the course of time, regulations habitually require updating. Between outdated methods and technology to the development of new construction targets and cultural shifts - take sustainability as an example - change can often suggest progress.
“In recent years, there’s no doubt that we’ve made strides forward as an industry in relation to fire safety and building design for example, with us seeing a number of reforms as per the Building Safety Bill5
and Fire Safety Act6 . Yet, the latest proposed
change to remove BS 476 as a standard feels a little nuanced to some. Over twelve months on since the government first made its announcement, questions and concerns remain and with that in mind, we must look into its potential ramifications.
However, in December 2022, the UK government proposed to remove national classifications3
from building regulations. In
doing so, BS 476 would be removed from the updated Approved Document B4
in favour of its European equivalent, which is
considered a more rigorous testing method. Although, with the change yet to come into force, many questions continue to surround the proposal. So, what are the implications of a move to EN 1634-1 and what does it all mean for fire door hardware?
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“BS 476 is a long-established standard that has been widely accepted in the UK since 1987. As an officially recognised testing method, BS 476 aims to achieve higher fire safety standards by assessing and confirming the fire resistance of various building elements, including fire doors and their hardware. To help assure a door assembly’s fire performance, the test method exposes one face of a full-scale doorset to conditions that simulate a fire scenario, where upon its results, the assembly is awarded a grade (in minutes) for which it can withstand fire.
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