After recent UK
Government investigations found that fire doors from five suppliers failed to
meet even the minimum mandatory fire performance standard, door hardware
experts are being urged to have their say in the consultation on the
clarification of Approved Document B (ADB).
The Ministry of
Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) began investigating the fire
door industry after it was found that a glazed, composite fire door from
Grenfell Tower had failed a 30 minute fire resistance test after approximately
15 minutes.
Now work is starting
on amending the Approved Document which gives guidance on compliance with Part
B of the Building Regulations in England.
The consultation
focuses on the clarity and the usability of ADB. In addition the consultation
is taking on learning from the Grenfell Public Inquiry and various other
consultations that are currently running, including the use of combustible
materials and the use of desktop studies and assessments in lieu of fire tests.
The Guild of Architectural Ironmongers (GAI) will
be producing a response on behalf of the ironmongery industry and is calling
for door hardware professionals to participate in the submission.
The consultation asks
for comment and evidence on a number of proposed clarifications to ADB
including moving the guidance for flats into Volume 1 (Dwellinghouses), clarity
of signposting towards other standards, guidance documents or approved
documents, and whether there is any guidance in ADB which should be in an
industry standard instead.
Douglas Masterson,
technical manager of the GAI, said: “Our members have such
vast experience of dealing with fire door hardware. They regularly encounter
ironmongery that has been incorrectly specified and have to rectify the
mistakes of people who don’t understand the important role of ironmongery on a
fire door, or who have struggled to interpret ADB and the other supporting
documents.
“We’re encouraging our
members to share these experiences and their technical expertise to drive
meaningful change within legislation, helping to improve the scope of standards
within the fire door industry and ensure a higher standard of hardware being used
throughout the UK.”
MHCLG has advised that
in early autumn 2018 it will launch a wider technical call for evidence on ADB
and supporting documents. An announcement of the outcome of the consultations
into the use of combustible materials and the use of assessments in lieu of
fire tests is expected in late autumn 2018, and in early 2019 a clarified ADB
and roadmap for wider technical policy changes will be published.
