The benefits of specifying fire doorsets

When it comes to the specification of fire doors and its associated hardware, there is no room for error but how can specifiers be confident that they are choosing a compliant product? Architectural ironmongery manufacturer HOPPE (UK) and fire doorset manufacturer Bespoke Complete Services Ltd (BCS) explain the benefits of specifying fire doorsets in public buildings.

Fire door assemblies vs. fire doorsets

Buildings are designed to use walls, floors and doors to compartmentalise the spaces to create a barrier in the event of a fire. A fire door, fully closed in its frame and installed correctly, is designed to restrict the spread of fire and toxic smoke, helping to protect property and escape routes, and ultimately save lives.

When looking for new fire doors, specifiers may encounter different terminology:

• Fire door assembly - this is all of the components, including the door frame, door leaf and essential ironmongery, supplied from separate sources.
• Fire doorset - fire doorsets are supplied pre-assembled in the frame, manufactured to the required size and include all of the correct components such as ironmongery and seals.

“A fire door can be used in a building and be supplied as a fire door assembly or as a fire doorset, but specifying a fire doorset offers a range of benefits,” explains Lee McMahon, managing director at BCS Ltd. “Fire doorsets offer stakeholders reassurance that the door and all its components will match the fire testing and certificate.

“There is also less room for error at both specification and installation stage as the compatible components have already been supplied. We are permitted to send some accessories and ironmongery for installation on site, but any elements which require any part of the door to be cut out, must be installed by us in the factory as these items will need intumescent material to surround them to ensure compliance.”

Testing and certification

A fire doorset cannot be fully certified as a complete system unless it is supplied as a whole set with ironmongery, including intumescent seals, and by an independent certified company.

Karen Nelson, business development manager for HOPPE (UK) and Registered Architectural Ironmonger, explains how the process works:

“Fire doorsets must be tested to EN 16034, a set of European standards that specify the technical performance characteristics for fire or smoke doors, and must always be used in conjunction with EN 14351-2 which identifies performance characteristics of interior doors for internal pedestrian doorsets. HOPPE supplies individual components that have already been tested in line with the relevant standards and are CE marked, but these are then installed and retested as part of the fire doorset.”

BCS’s doorsets fitted with HOPPE ironmongery carry the BM TRADA Q Mark. Under the scheme BCS undergoes a continuous assessment process with testing carried out on a three-yearly cycle.

A traceability plug is added to the fire doorset, usually on the door itself, to indicate that the door has been certified as a fire door.

“Under the Building Safety Bill, it will be mandatory for duty holders to be able to supply digital information about all of the elements in a building via the Golden Thread,” adds Karen. “The label added by schemes like BM Trada help building owners to trace the specific doorset and its components, the certificate and data sheet at any time. HOPPE’s product information already includes everything needed to demonstrate compliance and, in the future, can be used to inform maintenance regimes.”

To find out more about HOPPE's fire doorset click here.