Guidance on fire door testing (WG 009/2018)

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Circular

Issued by:

Francois Samuel: Head of Building Regulations

Summary:

The purpose of this Circular Letter is to draw attention to issues relating to fire door tests.

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FIRE DOOR TESTS

The purpose of this Circular Letter is to draw attention to issues about fire door tests.

Scope of this Circular Letter

The guidance in this Circular Letter applies to buildings and building work in Wales.

Introduction

The UK Government has been undertaking a series of tests of the performance of fire doors against the performance standards set out in Table B1 of Appendix B of Approved Document B (Fire Safety). They have tested doors from six suppliers.

Regrettably, doors supplied by five of these firms have failed. The UK Government is taking a number of steps to address the situation.

Approved Document B

The guidance in Appendix B of Approved Document B (both Volumes) sets out the standards of fire resistance for fire doors in various positions. It also states that: “The requirement (in either case) is for test exposure from each side of the door separately” (note – the exception to this is lift doors).

However, it has come to the UK Government’s attention that some fire resisting door sets are being marketed on the basis of a single fire resistance test on one side of the door.

Most door sets are not truly symmetrical and as such, testing on both sides is necessary to demonstrate compliance with the approved document. This is particularly the case for complex door constructions such as those found in double glazed and composite door sets.

Building Control Bodies are reminded of the guidance in paragraph 1 of Appendix B that states that test evidence used to substantiate the fire resistance rating of a door or shutter should be carefully checked. Given the public safety implications, building control bodies should check that test evidence is presented of exposure to fire for both sides of the door, in order to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of Approved Document B.

The UK Government will be writing to test laboratories along similar lines to consider this advice carefully when advising their clients on what tests are necessary in order to demonstrate compliance with building regulations’ guidance.

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ENQUIRIES

All enquiries on matters covered by this Circular should be addressed to:

Building Regulations

Welsh Government

1st Floor, North

Rhydycar

Merthyr Tydfil

CF48 1UZ

Tel: 03000 628144

E-mail: enquiries.brconstruction@gov.wales

Yours faithfully

Francois Samuel

Head of Building Regulations Policy Planning Directorate

Welsh Government