Door Industry Journal - Spring 2013

Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk 47 THE door industry journal spring 2013 fire & security January saw the launch of the FDIS Certificated Fire Door Inspector assessment, the final stage of the introduction of Europe’s first Fire Door Inspection Scheme. And in February Clive Reilly, Compliance Manager at Checkmate Fire Solutions, was the first person to meet the stringent requirements of the Fire Door Inspection Scheme (FDIS) and become a Certificated Inspector. In order for Clive to achieve his new status he initially passed the Diploma in Fire Doors. He then completed the online Transition Module, which provides in-depth information on a range of topics and helped to prepare him to undergo an independent assessment to determine whether his knowledge and expertise was sufficient to enable him to provide a professional service to his clients and be entitled to use the designation CertFDI. Phil Sargent, Installer Company Scheme Operations Manager at independent assessors Exova Warringtonfire undertook Clive’s assessment which took place at a Yorkshire health centre. He comments: “I observed Clive checking fire door doorsets and grilled him thoroughly with more than 130 questions about what he was doing and why. He proved to have excellent, practical knowledge and answered over 97% of my questions correctly.” While Clive is pleased to have proved his competence, he expects this qualification to result in more business for Checkmate. He says: “Fire doors are an increasingly important part of our business and there’s a distinct lack of knowledge and expertise out there. I anticipate that building owners and other responsible people will increasingly demand that recognised qualifications are a pre-requisite for commissioning people to help them with their RRO responsibilities and that the FDIS Certificated Inspector will become the de facto standard in this area.” Clive, along with a growing number of other people, who have applied to become Certificated Fire Door Inspectors will be bound by the FDIS Code of Conduct which ensures that they offer the highest levels of integrity, business ethics and professionalism. Any inspectors who do not abide by the code of conduct may have their certification withdrawn by FDIS. FDIS is Europe’s first fire door inspection scheme and is delivered by the BWF-Certifire scheme and the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers (GAI) to transform knowledge and understanding of fire doors. The scheme aims to help improve safety and save lives through creating a new pool of expertise and competence to help those with legal responsibilities under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order. In order to keep the important message of fire door safety going, a new campaign to encourage people to share evidence of defective fire doors has been initiated by FDIS. Theodore Firedoor, who lives on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, is fronting the campaign to encourage sharing of photos of dodgy fire doors across social media channels. Theodore Firedoor, with the help of people across the industry, aims to show how widespread the issue of ill-fitting, badly maintained or otherwise under performing fire doors is compromising lives and buildings across the UK. A stickler for fire safety he wants images of risky fire doors to be uploaded to his Facebook page, to be shared on Twitter @Theodore_Fire or emailed to him at theodore.firedoor@gmail.com. While he won’t be naming or shaming he does hope to inspire action. Neil Ashdown, general manager of the Fire Door Inspection Scheme (FDIS) says: “One of the primary reasons FDIS was introduced was to create a qualified pool of expertise and competence to help those with legal responsibilities under fire regulations. Theodore Firedoor will demonstrate why this expertise is so important to tackle the problems that ineffective fire doors are storing up with the potential for property damage and even loss of life.” For further information: www.fdis.co.uk Specific links referred to above: FDIS Certificated Fire Door Inspector assessment www.fdis.co.uk/qualify-with-fdis/become-a-certificated-inspector Diploma in Fire Doors www.fdis.co.uk/qualify-with-fdis/diploma FDIS Code of Conduct www.fdis.co.uk/content/doc/lib/101/FDIS_Code_of_Conduct_Feb2012.pdf FIRE DOOR INSPECTION SCHEME - THE FINAL STAGE