The Door & Hardware Federation has welcomed new rules making annual checks on fire doors in flats obligatory as well as quarterly checks in High-Risk Residential Buildings (HRRB).
“This is the responsible person’s role, and we support this wholeheartedly,” said head of commercial operations, Patricia Sowsbery-Stevens.
“This includes, for example, gaps around the doors, as well as the hardware such as door closers.
“We believe this is a long time in coming, but there are a number of benefits for our members and the industry. Most importantly, this change will raise the bar for safety across the sector.”
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, that come into effect on 23rd January 2023, was announced to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell tragedy, alongside the ban on the use of metal composite material panels with an unmodified polyethylene core (MCM PE), similar to those used at Grenfell.
She continued: “For our members, they are ready to embrace this change as many will be supplying the new complete fire doorsets to the installation companies, the components of which will have been tested together. If this reminder of the tragedy that happened five years ago has taught us anything, it is that third party certified complete doorsets and compartmentation is key to help minimise the spread of fire.
“The announcement brings together the ‘golden thread of information’ referred to by Dame Judith Hackitt in her report, the passing down of information that is vital in ensuring that when maintaining the product, any repairs that may be required do not compromise the integrity of the fire doorset.”
