Door Industry Journal - Winter 2021

Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk 26 THE door industry journal winter 2021 Industry News The Role of Secured by Design in the Reform of Fire Safety Regulations The Grenfell Tower disaster on 14 June 2017 led to intense scrutiny of the fire performance of the products installed during the refurbishment of the building and existing fire safety legislation – with the Government announcing a formal review into building and fire safety. Within a year, Dame Judith Hackitt published her Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, which focused on multi-occupancy, high-rise residential buildings. She concluded the existing fire safety regime was not fit for purpose with unclear roles and responsibilities. Since Grenfell, there has been much political activity. The Building Safety Bill, which was introduced to Parliament in July 2021, has been designed to create a more effective regulatory and accountability framework for the construction industry and introduce clearer standards and guidance. It is anticipated to become effective during 2023. Running alongside this Bill is the Fire Safety Act 2021 which is expected to come into force early in 2022 and amends the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. It brings new fire safety obligations around building structure, internal walls, common parts and doors. Crucially, external walls of a building and the fire doors to individual flats must now be assessed as part of the requirement for a fire risk assessment. So what has been the role of Secured by Design (SBD) during this period? SBD was an active member of the Grenfell Technical Group, which was set up in March 2018 to provide technical advice specifically on entrance doorsets to individual flats – which includes the door, associated frame and all component parts, such as the glazing and door hardware. The comprehensive technical findings were duly reported to government via the Grenfell Independent Expert Panel. With equal weighting being given to Approved Document Q (Security) and Approved Document B (Fire) within English Building Regulations, SBD required ‘dual certification’ for all flat entrance doorsets by the end of December 2018 – meaning independent third-party certification to both security and fire performance from a single United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accredited certification body, or one recognised under the EA Multi-Lateral Agreement. External flat entrance doorset, dual directional tested, CE marked and SBD accredited Internal flat entrance doorset, dual directional tested and SBD accredited