Spec Finish

Technical 16 www.thefis.org “Because a door is one of the few moving parts in a building and fire doors are likely to be in high traffic areas it’s important that the doors and ironmongery will stand up to its expected use, so don’t be tempted to save money through value engineering or the door may fail if, for example, the closer fails to close the door properly. “Installers should check that the tested fire doors have a permanent label or a ‘plug’ denoting its performance, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions to the letter. Installers often miss the requirement for an intumescent seal behind the hinges if required or forget to check that the doors have the specified gap between the door and the frame. “The simple purpose of a fire door in everyday use is just as any other door. However, since a breakout of fire is never predictable, the fire door, unlike any other door, must then perform its primary purpose – to protect lives and offer protection to the remainder of the building and to those fighting the fire.” Variability Mandeep Bansal, Technical Advocacy Director of Knauf UK & Ireland, (plasterboard system manufacturer), said: “It is very important that fire door assemblies of various types and sizes are required to demonstrate their fire resistance performance with its surrounding structure, supported by the required testing standard and procedures. “Within flexible wall constructions (drylining), a key talking point is variability. Due to the significant number of flexible wall solutions, offering a range of fire resistance periods and wall thicknesses, it is important that fire door assemblies can demonstrate and provide the necessary range of fire resistance data, including the interface of the aperture. “Designers and contractors need to ensure quicker and closer collaboration between flexible wall system and fire door assembly providers so that discussions can be had early to ensure the appropriate opening door apertures are designed for fire resistance compartmentation in accordance with what has been tested. There is a heavy lean towards manufacturers of fire door assemblies to provide such data.” FIS Service Penetrations Guide FIS recognises that fire safety is the number one issue in construction and continues to support the dedicatedWorking Groups looking at competence in the supply chain. We are also focused on developing specialist best practice guidance wherever possible (including our recently published Service Penetrations Guide that we developed with industry) because we work in a community where the need to raise standards based on shared values is understood. We are keen, however, to see work on updating the Building Regulations themselves accelerated to ensure that risk is managed in all cases, not merely contractualised. The proposed Building Safety Bill and Fire Safety Bill will provide umbrella legislation for more detailed legislation which will change how we design purchase, supervise and install and the questions about product performance using recognised terms will become every day, leading to evidence of complacency at all levels. FIS directory update FIS has added ‘Fire Door Installation’ to its directory search, so if you install fire doors, email the office so we can update your records. info@thefis.org Opening towards fire (exposed) insulated steel frame, fully-glazed with EI60 glass at conclusion of test on 68 minutes Opening away from fire (unexposed) insulated steel frame, fully-glazed with EI60 glass at conclusion of test on 68 minutes