Feature
Many of the fire safety products used in Grenfell Tower were found to have not performed as they should, with a leaked BRE Global draft report noting only 17 per cent of the door closers installed in Grenfell Tower were present and working. Shockingly, 50 per cent of door closers installed did not work properly.
It is therefore essential that a thorough study is completed by the decision-maker to compare the expectations of each fire doorset – including all hardware – to make sure they are accurately covered by the certification issued by the third- party accredited body. Validation should not be based on self- certification or claims of compliancy.
Maintenance Matters
All fire doorsets must be installed in line with the manufacturer’s instructions and meet their testing stipulations. If not installed properly, there may be knock-on effects. For instance, if the installed hinges do not perform as intended then the door leaf itself could drop. This may then mean there are incorrect gaps between the leaf and the frame, locks are not aligned, or the door leaf drags along the floor. All of this means additional force is required from the door closer, so the door doesn’t operate as easily as it should, and so on.
Once installed, a fire doorset is subject to varying demands and pressures. Many commercial environments are busy ones, with many people passing through them every single day. Fire doorsets should be checked regularly as a matter of course, but particularly in buildings that have high numbers of people using their facilities. If neglected, these issues can cause fire control systems to fail.
Common fire doorset maintenance issues include damaged door closers; general wear and tear over time; increased gaps between leaf and frame; warping of door leaves; damaged seals or beadings; incorrect ironmongery being installed; and impaired hinges and latches.
Most specifications take into account the ongoing cost and management of an asset, and fire doorsets are no different. Consequently, they require a tailored maintenance programme, which considers how often and where within a building they are used, as this may have implications on the expected lifecycle of a fire doorset and its need for refurbishment, maintenance and even replacement. For example, a system installed in a high traffic route, which might be subjected to hard use or occasional abuse, will need facilites managers to implement a more frequent maintenance review than other installations. Furthermore, a regular, scheduled maintenance programme can help identify potential issues before they become so serious they might compromise safety.
To help meet this need, ASSA ABLOY has published a new best practice guide on how to specify, install, maintain and inspect fire-certified doorsets, which can be downloaded for free from
www.assaabloyopeningsolutions.co.uk/en/whitepapers.
The guide has been compiled based on the knowledge and expertise of ASSA ABLOY’s FDIS-trained inspectors, as well as insights and information from a range of third-party accreditation bodies and trade associations, including the Door & Hardware Federation, Fire Industry Association, and Secured By Design.
For more information on ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions UK & Ireland, please visit
www.assaabloyopeningsolutions.co.uk, email
AASS-Forum@assaabloy.com or call 0845 223 2124.
1 IFSEC Global, ‘Fire extinguishers: your legal obligations’,
https://www.ifsecglobal.com/fire- news/fire-extinguishers-legal-obligations
2 Business Sprinkler Alliance, ‘£1 billion cost of warehouse fires to UK Plc’, https://www.
business-sprinkler-alliance.org/news/1-billion-cost-of-warehouse-fires-to-uk-plc/
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