Celebrating Fire Door Safety Week

Help your customers stay safe and compliant

New research has revealed a dangerous misconception around how fire doors work. The survey, carried out by the British Woodworking Federation to mark Fire Door Safety Week (FDSW), found that 38% of people aged 18 to 29 feel safe when a fire door is wedged open, and only 40% understand the role of a fire door.

The findings reinforce why this year’s FDSW campaign, Check it, close it: Protection starts at the door, matters. Timber Development UK is proud to support the campaign, which raises awareness around the correct specification, installation, maintenance and use of fire doors.

A fire door can only do its job when it is closed, correctly installed and properly maintained. Smoke alarms provide an early warning to occupants, but fire doors slow the spread of fire and toxic smoke and help protect escape routes.

For merchants, Fire Door Safety Week is a timely reminder of the role branch teams play in the wider fire safety chain. Staff need to understand what they are selling, the terminology involved and the importance of supplying compatible products and supporting information.

Understand the terminology

Most fire doors and rated either FD30 or FD60, providing 30 or 60 minutes’ resistance to the spread of fire when installed in a suitable structure. For more specialist applications, this can extend to 120 or 240 minutes.

Fire doors must be certified to confirm their resistance to fire performance. That certification will identify the ironmongery and door frames that are tested and approved for use with the door. Where a complete fire doorset is supplied, these components form part of the certified system.

Where fire doors are sold separately, merchant must know which components can be used with each door to achieve certified fire resistance. Substituting them may mean the installation does not perform as intended. Staff selling fire doors should receive appropriate training to demonstrate their competence and give customers accurate information.

TDUK has a range of resources to support merchants and their customers on this topic. You can check out our Merchant Guide to Selling Timber to learn more, or visit timberfiresafety.org and find everything your customer needs to know to create fire-safe timber buildings.