NEWS All the latest news from Fire Door Experts. These are exciting times for the company. Read on!
August 2022
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022
Are you ready??
It’s just a few months until the new fire door legislation for multi-occupied buildings over 11 metres tall comes into effect. This will make regular inspection of fire doors a legal requirement for the Responsible Person.
We can help simplify the process!
Old Gramophone Works, London
Working with Grahams Group and architects Studio RHE, we combined all our collective skills across both our holding company BWC Ltd and Fire Door Experts Ltd for both an extensive bespoke carpentry and joinery package and a fire doors package.
This multi-faceted, multi-phased project saw our combined teams work across areas of the entire project, including on-site design and fabrication, bespoke fixings and design details as well as the more “regular” installation of composite decking, cedar cladding and not to forget the 130 factory finished timber fire doors and frames.
March 2022
BM Trada annual audits passed with flying colours!
Our BM Trada Q Mark Fire Door Installation and Fire Door Maintenance accreditations require our technicians to be audited on an annual basis to ensure standards are being maintained. The great thing about BM Trada audits is they are carried out on live projects, so give a true reflection of the skills and abilities of the technicians involved and are not just pre-planned box ticking events.
We are very pleased and proud of our team as, during our recent audit, the BM Trada assessors were very impressed with the standard of our work and couldn’t find any faults or opportunities for improvement!! The 2-fold physical work assessment was carried out on a remedial works maintenance project and a fire door installation project, with zero faults found on either project!!
There is also the works recording and reporting element of the assessment to consider. While it’s reassuring to know fire doors are being installed and maintained to the required standards, it’s imperative that we can evidence and document works accurately and efficiently in order to be able to provide a full and complete project handover package. Recent Q Mark Record of Installation Activities and Record of Maintenance Activities Forms were checked for accuracy as well as other vital information such as evidence of the ongoing training our technicians receive.
This is a fantastic result and shows the incredible diligence and attention to detail of our office staff, our team of technicians, and also the excellent standard of their constant ongoing training by our Contracts Manager, Blaine Heard.
So, “Fire Door Experts” is a very appropriate company name!!
July 2021
Fire Door Experts near completion on another fire door installation project despite last minute changes to the fire strategy.
Our team are nearing completion of yet another Specialist Door Solutions fire door-set installation in a hospital on behalf of our long-term client, Actiform. Working exclusively in the health care sector, Actiform manufacture and construct bespoke modular buildings which allow their clients to tailor their buildings to match their exact needs.
The fire door-sets were procured through Specialist Door Solutions’ specific healthcare range using their Plasdoor range, which is perfectly suited to clinical environments.
Last minute changes were made to the fire strategy for the new hospital unit while our team were on site for the installations. These changes required an agile approach and responsive installations from our nimble and highly skilled fire door technicians to minimise disruption to the programme and also to avoid door re-manufactures.
January 2021
Fire Door Experts are the BOSS!
As one of the leading fire door installation companies, Fire Door Experts are very proud to be involved in this project.
Renowned for the quality of our fire door installation work, we were engaged to carry out this complex project to supply and install the fire door-sets and bespoke ironmongery for BOSS Design in Clerkenwell.
Our team worked closely with the main contractor, AQ CSL, and the architect, Ed Yuen, to confirm designs, specifications and ironmongery. Even when coming late to the party, Fire Door Experts were able to deliver this project to budget and in time for the opening of the studio.
December 2020
Student accommodation fire door maintenance – top of the class!
315 fire doors successfully maintained despite unforeseen challenges
Fire Door Experts have completed fire door maintenance work on 315 bedroom, communal and riser doors on behalf of a large student accommodation chain, successfully maintaining all doors back to their originally intended fire rating.
Under our BM Trada Q-Mark Fire Door Maintenance accreditation, we can carry out a number of Accepted Repair Techniques to make fire doors compliant, techniques such as;
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- Easing and adjusting the door so it hangs correctly in the frame to ensure the perimeter margins are within tolerance.
- Adjusting the frame to reduce excessive gaps on the long edges of the door leaf, particularly when working on veneer finish door leaves.
- Increasing the height of the door by adding hardwood lipping to the bottom edge.
- Installing automatic drop-down seals to provide smoke control where uneven floors make tight fire door tolerances of 3mm difficult to achieve.
- Replacing worn hinges to ensure the free swing of doors.
- Adjusting, or replacing, overhead door closers to ensure the doors self-close correctly so ensuring the integrity of the fire compartment.
These are just some of the Accepted Repair Techniques used to rectify the 658 identified non-compliances and maintain these fire doors back to compliance.
Projects such as these are normally challenging enough as our team work their way through the building. This particular project was made even more challenging as students began returning ready for the start of a new term. While this doesn’t sound a particularly difficult obstacle to overcome, when we remember this was the height of the Covid restrictions, and these students were arriving from all over the world…
October 2020
Carpentry and joinery package underway with 120 fire doors to be fitted in the New Year.
Our parent company, BW Consultants Ltd have commenced work on a major project at Gramophone Works on behalf of Grahams. This includes carpentry and joinery work to install a number of timber upstands and roof access hatches as well as refitting the Reception area and Cafe Roof Terraces over the new few months.
Once the building renovations are complete, the Fire Door Experts arm of the company will beginning installing 120 fire doors. Doors have been procured from Integrated Doorset Solutions Limited with ironmongery from AllGood.
This project is not only a major work contract, but also a perfect example of the wide ranging skillsets of the BWC and FED operatives.
July 2020
Building Safety Bill – draft publication gives new rights to residents and accountability for building owners
Residents in high rise buildings are set to be given new rights. The new Building Safety Bill will allow residents access to safety information in relation to the building they live in and, more importantly, gives them the power to challenge the building owner if they are not acting in the best interests of the residents and the safety and integrity of the building.
This new Bill comes off the back of Dame Hackitt’s report into the Grenfell Tower fire and will make sure that those responsible for the safety of residents in high rise buildings are accountable for any issues or mistakes, with a new regulator to enforce the new rules and take action against offenders.
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR), which is already being set up within the Health & Safety Executive, will have three main functions:
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- To oversee the safety and standard of all buildings
- Assure the safety of higher-risk buildings
- Improve the competence of those responsible for the managing and overseeing of building work
Crucially, this new BSR will be able to hold building owners to account for any issues or mistakes within their buildings.
Working with our clients, not just for our clients…
Hanevo at Whittington Hospital, a prime example
It’s vital, when working on projects, that all parties concerned work for the betterment of the project, especially when a variety of suppliers are involved and an ever-increasing scope of work.
Fire Door Experts were originally engaged by Hanevo back in December 2018 to carry out the installation of 250+ fire doors on a fix only basis. Due to the quality and timeliness of our work, the clear communication channels and our professional project management, we have developed an excellent relationship with Hanevo which has led to further works being awarded for fire door maintenance work and the supply and installation of a number of fire doors, including;
- Maintenance work completed on 76 existing bedroom doors
- Further maintenance work completed on existing kitchen and store room fire doors
- Replacement on-call doors – 15 On-Call bedroom doors replaced with FD30s Ash veneer door-sets with enhanced acoustic rating
- Improved escape route and fire compartmentation contract awarded with installation beginning soon
- Fix only door installation – Phase 2 recommences
- Fire door surveys completed on Level 2 with reports being prepared for submission
Given the numerous steps involved in the fire door procurement process, especially when working on multiple concurrent sub-projects, strong project management skills are required along with clear and concise communications. Fire Door Experts pride ourselves on offering a true full circle service providing peace of mind from project conception to completion and beyond.
June 2020
Anti-Microbial Ironmongery – for a safer and cleaner building!
New product feature – perfect for fire doors in hospitals, offices, schools, care homes – or any ironmongery that needs to be pulled or pushed!
Ironmongery featuring a BioCote Anti-Microbial coating can now be included in your fire door schedules or as part of a remedial works programme!! Providing continuous, around the clock protection against microbial colonisation, this is a great leap forward with the powder coating able to kill bacteria such as E-Coli and MRSA!!
How well does BioCote work?
- BioCote® protection is permanent – it provides built in protection for the expected lifetime of your product.
- BioCote® provides continuous, around the clock protection against microbial colonisation.
- BioCote® has been proven to reduce the number of bacteria on a protected product by as much as 80% in 15 minutes and 99.5% in just 2 hours.
- BioCote® has been proven to reduce the presence of microbes on a protected product by up to 99.99%
May 2020
House of Commons commendation – great to see given current challenges!
During these testing times, whilst our fire door technicians are strictly adhering to Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures, we are carrying out essential fire door maintenance works for a London borough on behalf of Wates Living Space.
The London borough have just received a fantastic letter of commendation from The House of Commons highlighting how well these essential works have and are being managed given the current challenges we all face.
April 2020
Fire Door Surveys
As a building owner, landlord or Responsible Person, you have a statutory obligation to ensure your fire doors are compliant and fit for purpose
So, you instruct a third party accredited fire door contractor to inspect and assess your fire doors. You (should) then receive a detailed report and cost estimate. Naturally, you want to get comparison quotes, so you send the report out to other contractors to price up.
The following things then probably happen:
1 Other contractors refuse to provide costs for repairs based on someone else’s report.
2 Another fire door contractor will price up the report, but include many clauses to cover them for pricing off someone else’s report. This includes disagreeing with some elements of the report and / or not costing certain elements at all.
3 A lot of time elapses between from when the first report was commissioned and completed, to when you finally have (at least) 2 costings to ‘compare’.
4 Now you have at least 2 costs back, you can’t actually compare like for like as each contractor’s prices have different interpretations of the reports and what they have (and have not) allowed for. So, in effect, you can’t actually compare like for like.
5 Several months have since elapsed into this project, and you have not progressed any further as all you have managed to do is pay for a fire door survey which you have vastly different costs back for any remedial works, all with different views on what is permitted to be carried out to maintain an existing fire door assembly back to its originally intended fire rating.
If this has happened to you, this is where we can help!
January 2020
Government Report on Grenfell Inquiry Phase 1
Yesterday, the Government published a document that sets out its response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 1 report of October 2019.
There are a number of actions being taken by the Government to ensure that a tragedy like Grenfell never happens again. These actions are largely based on Dame Judith’s recommendations in her independent review of building safety.
The upcoming Fire Safety Bill, borne as a direct result of the Grenfell Tower disaster, will:
“place new and enhanced regulatory regimes for building safety and construction products, and ensure residents have a stronger voice in the system………and to clarify the scope of the Fire Safety Order (2005) for fire doors for domestic premises of multiple occupancies, including front entrance doors.”
The Fire Safety Bill will further provide clearer accountability and stronger duties for those responsible for the safety of their buildings, particularly high rise buildings, and strengthen enforcement and sanctions to deter non-compliance with the new regime.
As fire door fitters, we welcome this report wholeheartedly and look forward to when the new Bill is passed. Building owners, operators, and landlords must then fully comply with their statutory duties to ensure all their building’s fire doors are fit for purpose. This may require door replacements, or maintaining the doors back to their originally intended fire rating.
The full report can be found here >>> Government Response to Grenfell Inquiry Phase 1 Report
