Fire initiatives supported

Frustration is mounting at the apparent slow progress to change the Building Regulations following the fire at Grenfell Tower in London four years ago.

However, many in the fire door industry, including the Door and Hardware Federation (DHF), feel that with some of the systemic problems being addressed, there is hope.

For example, the recent passage of the Fire Safety Act 2021 (covering England and Wales) clarified the responsibility for fire safety inspections of flat entrance doors. This amends the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, specifying that the ‘responsible person’ under the order is responsible for, among other things, flat entrance doors. Previously, this was not entirely clear.

DHF said it welcomed this clarification, which should serve to improve standards of maintenance.

“The industry is rising to the challenge, with one outcome being an upsurge in demand for fire door inspection training,” DHF said, having seen this increase in demand first hand.

It works collaboratively with the BRE Academy to provide a series of training courses, one of which is fire door inspection. So far this year, there have been 37 courses delivered and a raft of online courses taken.

The importance of fire door maintenance was confirmed by recent evidence to the Grenfell Inquiry, in which it was revealed that inspection of the flat entrance doors in Grenfell Tower generally took place only when a resident moved out or during major work programmes. Following the fire, it was discovered that approximately two-thirds of the door closers were broken or missing. This led to some fire doors remaining open during the fire.

Disclosures from building materials manufacturers at the inquiry also led to an independent review of the construction products testing regime; evidence at the inquiry suggested that the existing system made it too easy to cheat.

“We look forward to cooperating with the review and continuing to promote third-party certification of fire doors as part of the solution to this problem,” DHF’s general manager Michael Skelding said.