Fire Protection

Fire safety is an important consideration in the building industry, and everyone involved in construction or property management should choose materials and processes to help prevent fires. This is especially important in multi-tenanted buildings like apartment complexes and retirement/nursing homes, where a fire can quickly spread and put lives at risk.

Many people don’t realise that most entrance mats are not flame-retardant, meaning they can fuel a fire and spread it around the building more quickly. Most building operators and landlords know the risks and will ask tenants to remove mats that aren’t classified as flame-retardant. Learn more about Flame-Retardant Entrance Mats with this guide provided by First Mats.

FrameFit is a brand-new, innovative, fire-rated, and fully tested system that solves a very common but serious problem with fire doors – excessive gaps between leaf and frame.

Current legislation states that fire doors with gaps of over 4mm between leaf and frame must be reported by inspectors as non-compliant, but despite this, a recent survey by one of the UK’s leading industry bodies reported that 75% of fire doors in the UK are non-compliant, and 77% of those that are non-compliant failed due to excessive gaps of over 4mm between the leaf and frame. Non-compliant fire doors will fail a fire risk assessment. This poses a threat to building inhabitants as well as asset owners, as compliant fire doors are required for effective compartmentalisation of a building to help stop the spread of fire.

Described as ‘the most advanced system for management of fire doors on the market’, Door Data Systems is an innovative system enabling the recording and storage of key data attached to fire door processes, including inspections, maintenance, and installations. Those responsible for fire door safety can be certain that they are taking a responsible, forward-facing approach to improving the standards of building safety by specifying Door Data Systems and joining National Fire Door Register.

Revised standards and a new Government bill to better protect people living in social housing are putting a fresh onus on the correct product and system specification, including roofs.

Stuart Nicholson, Roof Systems Director from Marley, says working with a single source supplier that understands the implications and can collaborate to ensure regulatory compliance should be a strategic imperative for local authorities.

Wednesday 6th July saw Aico, the European Market Leader in Home Life Safety, win two trophies for their HomeLINK Internet of Things (IoT) connected home platform at the EG Tech Awards and the Computing Digital Technology Leaders Awards.
At the EG Tech Awards, Aico won the ESG category, which recognises the best use of tech to improve the sustainability of a building and resident wellbeing. Aico’s entry successfully demonstrated how the HomeLINK IoT platform assists landlords in identifying properties for retrofit to increase thermal efficiency, while improving indoor environmental conditions by predicting the risk of damp and mould.

Passive fire protection systems specialist Promat UK has developed two new steel framed glazed door systems and a timber door set to provide specifiers with assured fire safety solutions in domestic, public and commercial buildings.
 
All three door sets are available in EI30 or EI60 specifications, which means they will retain their integrity and provide effective insulation to protect people and assets in the event of a fire for either 30 or 60 minutes.

Innovative door design can often be limited to visual perception. In other words, does it turn heads and stand out in its surroundings?  A not unrealistic aspiration, although seldom achieved these days. The use of colour and wood grain pattern can elevate interior doors immeasurably. This is something Vicaima have been perfecting for over 60 years, with their factory finished decorative door portfolio.  However, now they take us on a new journey of sensory experience with the introduction of doors that invite you to feel in every sense of the word.