Fire doors - Smoke resistance compliance

Chris Flaherty – Technical Director at Winkhaus UK and Jon Cole – Chief Operating Officer at Secured by Design explain the importance of smoke resistance testing and how they have worked together to close a potential gap in the standards.

The 2019 MHCLG guideline for fire doors identified 3 critical features of required tested performance FIRE, SMOKE and ENHANCED SECURITY. Equally, the MHCLG guideline clearly states that these critical performances should be audited by 3rd Party independent audits / Certification.

Winkhaus FireFrame® composite fire door sets are the first fire door solutions to attain the Q Mark 3rd party audit / Certification for all three critical performance requirements. By the summer 2022 this will be the minimum technical requirement for all Secured by Design accredited door sets.

“...the first fire door solutions to attain the Q Mark 3rd party
audit / Certification for all three critical performance requirements.”

Chris Flaherty explains, traditional test evidences most often include smoke resistance but the smoke evidence has not been controlled by the 3rd Party independent audit / Certification scheme as now recommended by the MHCLG.

Both Winkhaus and SBD agree, to precisely follow this guidance the independent audits must relate to fire, smoke and security.

“As soon as we realised that smoke was at risk of not being treated in
the same way as fire and security evidence, it was critical we sought to resolve this issue...”

Left, Jon Cole, Chief Operating Officer at Secured by Design and right, Chris Flaherty, Technical Director at Winkhaus UK
 

Strengthening the standards
Jon Cole, Chief Operating Officer at Secured by Design explains,  “As soon as we realised that smoke was at risk of not being treated in the same way as fire and security evidence, it was critical we sought to resolve this issue specifically for all Secured by Design (SBD) Developments and by all doorset manufacturers recognised by us through our SBD Membership scheme.

“It is critical that all UKAS accredited certification bodies incorporate smoke control alongside their fire and security schemes. These three life critical elements of a flat/apartment entrance doorset, together with other desirable features such as acoustics, thermal efficiency, etc., must be assessed on doorsets with a matching specification, this has so often not been the practice in the past leading to doorsets being supplied to market that are not fit for purpose.

“In early 2021 we secured agreement from all of the UK certification bodies working in this area to incorporate smoke control into their fire and security schemes for flat/apartment entrance doorsets, we will also amend the SBD website entry for all of our member companies once they have achieved this critical certification to ensure that specifiers can find doorset products that are both safe and secure – our deadline for the completion of this process is summer 2022. Third party certification of such products is, in our view, the only way to ensure that flat/apartment entrance doorsets are fully compliant with the Building Regulations.

“We fully support the active and progressive position that Winkhaus has taken on this matter, Chris and his technical team have demonstrated that it is possible to meet all of the requirements in one package. Flat/Apartment entrance doorsets are becoming increasingly complex products and Winkhaus are the first to meet all of the SBD requirements through the Q Mark 3rd party certification scheme.

“Third party certification of such products is, in our view, the only way to ensure that
flat/apartment entrance doorsets are fully compliant with the Building Regulations.”

Mirrored test evidence
“We are delighted that our composite fire doorset solutions are the first to be awarded Q Mark Certification for Smoke and the first to hold all three Q Mark certification from BM Trada, with our timber doorset solutions currently completing the same certification process.

“As a business we have always tested our fire doorset solutions against all three performances, with each now having its own mirrored FoAp (Field of Application) that identifies the design and range of products that are covered. The Q Mark certification system brings together the information from these FoAp’s and consolidates the approved design range within the door manufacturers “Scope of Certification”.

Driving this change ensures that all three performances are tested and regularly independently audited to prove all production this week, next month, and next year continue to provide the safest door set solution.”

For help and support with your fire door specifications or further information on fire doorset legislation, please visit firetraining.winkhaus.com or email marketing@winkhaus.co.uk