An industry first for hardware protection

When hardware is rebated into a fire door assembly, the integrity and performance of the system is compromised. Vanquish is a specialist in intumescent hardware protection – and says that its newly acquired, industry first, third-party accreditation is set to be a game-changer.

Fire safety is at the forefront of every part the construction sector since the tragedy at Grenfell, with a much greater sense of responsibility and caution when specifying and using materials on buildings and an increase in requests for third-party accreditation to ensure they perform as specified.

Vanquish, a specialist in the manufacture of precision intumescent kits for rebated hardware for use in timber fire door assemblies, has acquired third-party accreditation through IFC (International Fire Consultants) for its hardware protection products.

It makes the Wiltshire-based company the first and only UK hardware protection manufacturer with third-party certification.

Mike Sutcliffe, the company’s business development manager, said: “We have been chasing third-party accreditation for our products for several years so to get to this point is hugely satisfying.

“IFC were very helpful in setting up the scheme and immediately highlighted the importance of third-party accreditation for these safety critical products. We are absolutely delighted to have secured this accreditation. It’s already had an incredible reception from our customers.”

The best protection

All hardware installed on fire doors must be fitted without compromising the integrity of the assembly and this is critical where hardware, such as hinges, locks and latches, flush bolts, door controls and letterplates, is rebated into the doorset.

Intumescent materials expand upon exposure to heat, creating an exceptionally insulating foam. Adding intumescent protection greatly reduces the rate at which heat passes through the door, preventing heat transfer on the rebated hardware and sealing voids created during the rebating process.

Vanquish has secured IFC certification specifically for hardware protection under the SDP20 Intumescent Seal and Hardware Protection Kits scheme for both of its hardware protection products – FlexiFire graphite-based and Fire Protectors phosphate-based intumescent, manufactured by Wolman in Germany.

It covers initial testing, includes audits to assess the consistency of production, and certified products are printed to ensure traceability throughout production.

“All our products can be manufactured with traceability print that includes the material brand, time and date of manufacture, the batch number of raw materials and the IFC certificate number,” explained Mike.

“This allows the product to be identified after installation and ensures that they have been tested to the relevant standards. So, only our FlexiFire graphite-based and Fire Protectors Phosphate-based intumescent can provide a traceable and quality assured production process from start to finish under IFC certification.”

Vital importance

According to Mike, the importance of third-party certification cannot be understated when it comes to intumescent materials, with too much ambiguity in the test data.

“Hardware protection products are not CE or UKCA marked; the problem is intumescent materials are not made consistently across all manufacturers and can behave very differently from one another. For example, there is no minimum quantity for graphite content in graphite-based intumescent, and activation temperatures of compounds vary greatly.

“Third party certification ensures consistency in manufacturing, with the same product manufactured every time from the same quality of raw materials. The issue of not being able to identify the material if something goes wrong has been solved with full traceability print.

“The Grenfell tragedy was a massive wake up call, and rightly so, as people in the industry are following guidelines more closely and there is a demand for traceability and peace of mind. That’s what we now offer.”

“Fire doors are not ordinary doors; they are a carefully engineered fire safety device and are critical to the fire safety of a building and this is a game changer for hardware protection,” concluded Mike.

“We are the only manufacturer to offer this level of service, putting us at the forefront of the market. Now we can provide our customers with even more peace of mind and ensure our hardware protection products will perform as intended, ensuring life and property are kept safe at all times.”