Door Industry Journal - Spring 2013

Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk Ultimately, both the door and frame must comply with all the relevant standards, namely BS476 Part 22: 1987 for both fire integrity and full fire insulation; BS EN 1634-1 2000 the new European Standard and BS 5588-4 1988 which deals with smoke passage. For example, the Martin Roberts range of fire resistant steel doorsets complies with all of the above standards and have been tested by the Warrington Fire Research Centre and Underwriters Laboratories USA. The Martin Roberts Fire Resistant Door Range has a maximum combined fire integrity of two hours and fire insulation of one hour. Fire integrity alone can be offered up to 5 hours. In almost all situations this should allow occupants of a building sufficient time to make their escape. My advice to building specifiers is to seriously consider fire resistant steel doors, for any building type where fire safety is taken seriously, but in particular where fire could break out in one part of the building but needs to be contained in order to enable employees and tenants to make their way to safety. 49 THE door industry journal spring 2013 fire & security LAKANAL HOUSE TRAGEDY REAFFIRMS NEED FOR ADEQUATE FIRE SAFETY MEASURES Colin Campbell from Ingersoll Rand, comments: “The jury at the high-profile Lakanal House fire inquest ruled that Southwark council missed ‘numerous opportunities’ to undertake fire safety checks and that the blaze spread far quicker than would normally be expected. “The fire, which tragically killed six people in 2009, spread at an alarming rate across multiple floors, moving upwards as well as down to the floors below, which was as unexpected as it is uncommon. Whereas a building should be designed to help contain a fire allowing time for escape, the lack of basic preventative fire safety measures at Lakanal House meant that the opposite occurred. “The limited awareness of the layout of the building meant that residents and fire fighters were unclear about escape routes. Fire proofing around windows had been replaced over time and there were no fire stoppers on pipe work. Additionally, because there were no fire retardant door seals on the front door of one of the flats affected and an inadequate panel, the fire and smoke could not be sufficiently contained. Subsequently, advice to residents to stay in their flats where they should be protected instead proved fatal. “While many organisations have developed adequate fire safety checks, many are still unaware of the crucial role of suitable doors and door sets in helping contain a fire. Unless a door is adequately manufactured, tested and certified it will not afford those crucial moments of additional protection in the case of a fire. In the case of Lakanal House, fire proofing around doors and windows was missing. This meant that not only were they unable to contain a fire and smoke, but these killing elements spread far more quickly. “The Lakanal House fire was an unmitigated tragedy which as the jury found, could have been prevented if regular fire safety checks had been undertaken and adequate fire prevention put in place. Only by ensuring that the correct safeguards are put in place can we ensure that such a tragedy does not happen again.” Reproduced under Creative Commons licence from the UK Fire Door Inspection Scheme