FOCUS
Fire doors/glazing
the suitability of certain door closers for use on fire resisting doors, and whether a particular closer is suitable for a particular doorset in a particular location. The data on the EN 1154 and EN 1634 test reports would be useful, but is not generally available, and would need an expert to interpret.
Another issue with CE marking (EN 1154 as a point in case) is that people trade one product against another, believing them to be the same. There is a reason why door closers range from £10 to £100, and we must remember that a CE mark only ensures that a ‘minimum’ level of performance is achieved. For a particular application, you may need a far better performing product. From our experience, the biggest danger with CE marking is that it can give a false sense of security. For instance, if we look at the fourth digit of the performance classification under EN 1154, which is for fire behaviour, if there is a ‘1’ present, it doesn’t mean that that particular door closer is suitable for all fire doors – it only means that there is some form of fire test evidence. It doesn’t, for example, clarify door type (timber or metal), fixing position, functions (latch, backcheck and delayed action valves) or alternative accessories (bracketry or guide rails), and can even misrepresent the power sizes. As stated earlier, you would have to trawl through the test evidence or ask for clarification from your supplier, hoping that they have the knowledge or access to this information.
42 MAY 2018
www.frmjournal.com
Standard compliance
In order to comply with the Equality Act 2010 (which replaced the Disability Discrimination Act 1995), it will generally be necessary for fire doors to comply with the requirements of BS 8300. This includes a maximum opening force exerted by the user to open the door. Careful choice of closer for a specific doorset is essential, but the information provided to users is often inadequate and difficult to decipher. There is some evidence to suggest that
testing by different notified bodies is not as consistent as we would wish. Similarly, sales literature is frequently inconsistent and installation instructions can lack clarity, often failing to distinguish between different applications and even different models of closer. The result is a bit of a minefield for installer or user. Current statistics with regard to safety also
make unsettling reading. An independent study recently identified that more than 60% of door closers in the UK are installed incorrectly. Of this number, a further 80% are not set up and commissioned correctly, with 25% an incorrect product in the first place! This tells us that a very small number of door closers are performing as they were designed or tested to perform. A door closer reaches its optimum
performance following 5,000 cycles and will generally need readjusting, but alarmingly, we have no evidence of this being carried
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