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No safety issues with timber fire doors, government says
The government has said there are no “performance concerns” with timber fire doors after tests on products from 25 manufacturers all passed.
There has been concern about the quality of fire doors in the UK since police investigating the Grenfell Tower fire revealed the doors had failed a test in just 15 minutes – half the required standard.
Since then nine of 12 popular models of ‘composite’ plastic fire doors have failed government tests, leading to a crisis where tens of thousands need to be replaced.
But today the government released test results on timber doors, which showed all of them had passed the official test.
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As a result housing secretary James Brokenshire told parliament: “The expert panel [on fire safety] have concluded that they do not believe there is a performance concern with timber fire doors across industry, where they are purchased directly from the manufacturer and produced to specification.
He added: “It is important to be clear that, although the results of our testing provide assurances for residents who have concerns about their fire doors, it is for building owners to assure themselves that the fire doors they install are fit for purpose and have the required documentation and certification.”
Those tested included glazed and un-glazed doors with a variety of different hardware, tested on both sides.
One door withstood fire and smoke while opening away from the furnace for 59 minutes.
An Inside Housing investigation last month revealed just 2,689 of 33,522 fire doors identified as non-compliant with the 30-minute standard since Grenfell had so far been replaced.
Kevin Underwood, technical director for the British Woodworking Federation, which represents manufacturers of timber products and has campaigned on fire door issues, said: “We would actively encourage those responsible for the fire safety of buildings to review the test and certification documents that support the performance of their fire doors to ensure people’s lives are not put at risk.
“Fire doors perform an essential role of preventing the spread of fire and smoke and keeping escape routes clear.
“The government must act quickly to eliminate all existing issues and ensure that all future fire doors are fit for purpose.”
Update: at 16.06pm 18/07/19 more information was added to the story.
