Over 200 professionals from local authorities and housing associations recently came together to learn about the latest developments in the fire door sector in the UK’s first CPD Accredited CE Marked GRP fire door seminars. LABM reports.
The event was held over two days and hosted by fire door specialist manufacturer and installer Nationwide Windows. Delegates heard from industry leading organisations including the Association of Composite Door Manufacturers (ACDM), Fire Door Systems (FDS), Warringtonfire and the Nationwide team.
John Whalley, Nationwide MD comments: “There’s no doubt it has been a challenging time for everyone in the fire door supply chain, especially those involved in social housing specification and the commissioning of fire doors. That’s why we wanted to instigate these seminars to offer clarity, share the sheer amount of testing that has been undertaken to ensure that the next generation of GRP fire doors are safe and fit for purpose, and offer practical guidance. The timing of the seminars was also especially important as 1st November sees the new CE Marking legislation coming into effect.
“Delegates were given an overview of the fire door market since Grenfell to today; the current status and minimum requirements to supply. Local authority and housing association attendees also heard about the latest digital solutions available for coding and tracking fire rated door-sets from point of manufacture, to install, to inspection and maintenance; as well as insights into the robust testing requirements of the EU fire door testing; and advice on how to specify and access the next generation of CE Marked GRP fire doors and the benefits of third party certification and the schemes offered for GRP fire rated doorsets.”
At the event local authority and housing association specifiers had the opportunity to take a look at the latest range of CE Marked, GRP fire door solutions from Nationwide. The doors have benefited from over £500,000 of investment in >40 individual fire tests run in UKAS (or EU equivalent) test centres in three different European countries.
John continues: “Our door is proven to keep fire at bay for far in excess of 30 minutes against temperatures of 900°C Celsius in accordance with EN 1634-1, and smoke tested to EN1634-3. It has undergone bi-directional testing and is designed to pass the rigours of PAS24 and Secured By Design enhanced security standards.”
When looking for suppliers for projects involving fire door specification, it is important specifiers choose partners that are third party, independently accredited at every stage of the process — from site survey, to manufacture, to installation. This gives social housing providers and their tenants complete peace of mind that the products installed on the project will perform as intended. Nationwide holds the Q Mark by BM TRADA in recognition of its process control from start to finish.
