As part of the Fire Kills campaign, Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service (WFRS) is supporting Fire Door Safety Week (16-22 September 2024).
As part of the Fire Kills campaign, Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service (WFRS) is supporting Fire Door Safety Week (16-22 September 2024) and encouraging building managers, landlords, and other persons in control of buildings in Warwickshire to check the operation and condition of their fire doors.
Fire doors are often a critical feature of a building’s fire safety arrangements and play a key role in reducing fire and smoke spread and protect people within the building and, as such, correct specification, installation, maintenance, and management can be the difference between life and death for building occupants.
Despite the crucial need for fire doors, fire door defects remain one of the most common breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 found by Fire safety Inspectors here in Warwickshire. Common problems our inspectors find are fire doors being wedged open, missing or damaged doors or even non-fire doors being installed in their place.
Fire doors can protect lives but only if they are working properly, so WFRS is sharing tips on how to check the safety of fire doors in buildings to reduce the risk of a fire spread.
- Check for certification - Is there a label or plug on top (or occasionally on the side) of the door to show it is a certificated fire door?
- Check the gaps - Check the gaps around the top and sides of the door are consistently less than 4mm when closed.
- Check the seals - Are there any intumescent seals around the door or frame, and are they intact with no sign of damage?
- Check the hinges - Are the hinges firmly fixed (three or more of them), with no missing or broken screws?
- Check the door closes properly - Open the door about halfway, let go and allow it to close by itself. Does it close firmly onto the latch without sticking on the floor or the frame?
WFRS would also like to encourage any residents or other building users to report any defects or concerns you have about fire doors within buildings where they live or work. In the first instance, you should report your all defects and concerns to the landlord, building owner or person in control of the building. However, should you continue to have concerns you can report them to WFRS using our online concerns portal (WFRS Contact Form or contact us via telephone on 01926 423231)
Councillor Andy Crump, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Fire said: “Fire doors play a key role in keeping people safe in buildings people, live in, work in and use for leisure. For fire doors to do their job effectively they must be subject to an appropriate system of maintenance. I would encourage any persons in control of a building in Warwickshire to ensure they have a system in place to check and maintain fire doors.
The Fire door safety week website has lots of useful tools and information to support anyone needing to check and maintain fire doors.
“There are just five simple steps to check the condition of a fire door so I would urge everyone across Warwickshire to check any fire doors in their property or the homes of loved ones.
“It only takes a few moments, and you could save a life.”
For more details, visit www.firedoorsafetyweek.co.uk.