Fire safety legislation evolves all the time, ensuring people understand the risks and their responsibilities. There have been several key changes in the last few years. They affect fire doors, sprinklers, alarms, cladding, risk assessments, documentation, the role of a responsible person, and more. If you need help, you can rely on experts like us. We provide a range of services, including fire door inspections in Redcar and FRAs.
Notional fire doors
One of the most important things to keep in mind is that changes in legislation can have a big impact on compliance. Crucially, you may find that fire safety elements in older properties like fire doors no longer comply with the latest standards. They may be missing vital features or certification. This means they may not provide the right level of protection or function as they need to.
If you get a new risk assessment of an older property, you may find that you have notional fire doors. This means that they could offer a level of fire resistance, but do not have certification to confirm it. Significantly, there is no evidence they were tested. So, there is no way to guarantee they would actually be able to resist fire and smoke for any given length of time.
The big risk here is you’re making an assumption that notional fire doors will perform as you expect them to. Sadly, with something as serious as fire safety, this isn’t acceptable. It can put people in harm’s way. Therefore, you need to take action. If you have concerns and need to arrange fire door inspections in Redcar, you can rely on us.
What to do?
Typically there are two options if you have notional fire doors. Firstly, you may be able to upgrade them if the risk level if low. Things like adding intumescent strips, upgrading to fire resistant glass, and installing new hardware can help. However, you must be realistic; upgrades can never make an old door equal to a new certified one. Again you are relying on an assumption of performance rather than proof.
The second option is to replace the doors. This is the recommendation in the majority of cases. While it can be more costly, it gives you a guarantee that you comply with current fire safety regulations. It is also convenient as you can buy complete door sets with everything you need, including hardware. Plus, you can ensure you have all relevant documentation, such as certificates.
Rely on us for fire door inspections in Redcar and more
ABC Fire Safety & Security provides a great mix of services to help you understand risk and mitigate them. Crucially, we can do risk assessments and inspections to give you as much information as possible. This can even include clear reviews of your doors, determining if they are compliant, notional, or nominal.
So, if you want to arrange fire door inspections in Redcar or other local areas for a variety of buildings, speak to us.
