Why Seek Advice From A Fire Door Specialist?

In any commercial building, or residential buildings that house multiple occupants, fire safety is both a legal and moral obligation and necessity. An important part of a building’s fire safety strategy and plan is the installation of specialist fire doors – they reduce or prevent the spread of flame, heat, and potentially toxic smoke into other areas of the building from the source of the fire outbreak, thus helping to prevent injury or loss of life to any occupants, whilst also minimising damage to the building itself. Fully legally compliant and certified fire doors are mandatory – here are some reasons you should consult with a specialist fire door company to ensure your building complies with the legal requirements:

Dangers Of Non-Compliant Fire Doors

All fire doors are manufactured to a specific standard – the minimum requirement for a fire door to be able to hold back or contain the effects of a fire outbreak is 30 minutes, necessitating Fd30 fire doors. These 30 min fire doors will provide safety from all the harmful elements of a fire outbreak for a minimum of 30 minutes, whilst a Fd60 fire door will provide the same protection for a minimum of 60 minutes, an Fd90 fire door for 90 minutes and so on. Without these fire doors installed fire can very quickly spread throughout a building ending in tragic consequences – consulting with a fire door specialist company is the best way to ensure that your building is both safe and legally compliant.

Compliance

In order for your fire doors to be compliant they must fulfil certain safety conditions – the fire door itself must be made of fire-retardant materials with a thick core, and the whole doorset must meet with minimum regulations with regards to materials and installation – this includes the door frame, any glazed panels, and all the door ‘furniture’ such as handles, hinges, brackets, and the all-important intumescent seals. An accredited fire door company will provide both external and internal fire doors with the correct certification proving that they have been manufactured, and tested, to the required levels.

Certification

All fire doors must carry the appropriate certification to prove that they are fit-for-purpose – having your internal fire doors manufactured and installed by an approved fire door company will provide evidence for fire risk assessors and insurance companies that you are fulfilling your legal requirements. You should look for a fire door company that is approved by British Standards and is certified with the BM Trada Q Mark or has FIRAS certification.

Fire Door Protection

A specialist fire door company will also give you the best advice on the level of fire doors your building requires – different buildings, or indeed different parts of the same building, may require different levels of protection. An approved fire door manufacturer or supplier will tell you where Fd30 fire doors or Fd60, Fd90 etc are appropriate.

Fire Door Maintenance

Once installed, all your fire doors MUST be maintained to the minimum standards – this again is a legal requirement. They must be regularly checked (every 6 months) and any damage or faults repaired or replaced immediately to the required standard for the door to operate as fit-for-purpose.

As you can see, there are many reasons you should seek the advice and guidance of a specialist fire door company – people’s safety is of paramount importance in a commercial or heavily occupied building, and you must ensure that you are fully compliant with the required standards – failure to do so can have tragic consequences!

Enfield Doors

If you would like to find out more about fire door safety in the UK, we can help. Our team of experts is on hand to guide you and give you sound and pragmatic advice based on years of experience and successful installations.

If you would like further information on our company, please contact us and we will respond as quickly as possible. We look forward to helping you.