Timber fire doors help to save lives and protect property

Fire doors play a vital role in saving lives and protecting property. There are approximately 3 million new fire doors bought and installed every year in the UK. The vast majority of these are made from timber.

Support Fire Door Safety Week: 25 September – 1 October

Fire Door Safety Week aims to educate people within the construction and housing industry to ensure they understand how important a fire door really is.

As fire doors are often the first line of defence, the correct specification, supply, installation, inspection and maintenance is vital to ensuring the door performs as it should.

Now in its fifth year, the campaign is raising awareness of the critical role of third-party certified fire doors in high-rise buildings, houses of multiple occupancy and other types of shared accommodation.

Just in time for Fire Door Safety Week, here are some facts about fire doors:

1. An existing timber door can only have its fire resistance improved to a maximum of 30 minutes. (Source: West Yorkshire Fire[1])
2. Most fire doors have a solid core construction which can include: particleboard, chipboard, flaxboard and solid timber. (Source: JB Kind[2])
3. From 1 July 2013, under the Construction Products Regulation 2011 (CPR), it became mandatory for manufacturers to apply CE marking to any of their products which are covered by a harmonised European standard (hEN) or European Technical Assessment (ETA). This includes external fire doors. (Source: BWF-Certifire[3])
4. Fire doors are currently tested to BS 476 part 22 or EN1634, which require the test to be undertaken as a complete assembly including door leaf, frame, ironmongery, intumescent seals and glazing. (Source: BWF-Certifire)
5. The BWF-Certifire scheme requires each timber fire door design to be re-tested every 5 years or 250,000 doors produced. (Source: BWF-Certifire)

You can get involved in Fire Door Safety Week by pledging your support and signing up to the Thunderclap.