Business Safety Week 2023: The laws for checking fire doors are changing. Are you ready?

In England and Wales fire safety legislation is changing from 1st October. This will mean that many businesses and building owners need to check if and how this affects them to ensure they are complying with the regulations.

Business Safety Week runs from 11th – 17th September. It’s an opportunity for the NFCC, supported by Fire and Rescue Services to make small and medium sized businesses aware of their fire safety responsibilities in the workplace, and is a chance to let these businesses know that there is help and advice available for them all year round.

The NFCC say “Helping businesses to manage their fire risks and hazards, and potentially to save lives and safeguard their businesses against financial and commercial loss is of key importance. Simple measures to reduce risks of a fire starting and ensuring staff know how to respond in the right way can help to keep people safe and makes business sense.”

In England and Wales fire safety legislation is changing from 1st October. This will mean that many businesses and building owners need to check if and how this affects them to ensure they are complying with the regulations. The main changes are:

• All businesses will need to record a fire risk assessment and fire safety arrangements in full – regardless of the number of employees, and size or type of business.

• There are increased requirements for cooperation and coordination between Responsible Persons in multi occupied buildings or those where the occupier and owner are not the same person.

• In residential buildings with two or more domestic premises residents must be provided with information on the risks from fire and the fire safety measures provided to keep them safe.

What you need to do and how Halspan can help

To recap, January’s Building Safety Act 2022 regulations require responsible persons to undertake annual checks of flat entrance doors and quarterly checks of communal doors in multi-occupied residential buildings over 11 metres in height.

Examining further, how will this work in practice and what are your options?

As a responsible person, you could carry out the checks yourself. But ask yourself this: do you have the necessary knowledge, skills, resources and systems to complete the checks, bearing in mind the potential risks, both to the building’s residents and yourself? So maybe don’t do it yourself, if you want a peaceful night’s sleep!

Maybe you could leave it to a Fire Risk Assessor as part of their overall Fire Risk Assessment of your building? It’s an option, but you should be aware that Fire Risk Assessors aren’t always fire door experts and, while they may comment on some clearly visible issues, they WON’T carry out an in-depth inspection of ALL your fire doors. Typically, a Fire Risk Assessor will advise you to have your doors inspected by a specialist – someone with the skills, knowledge and experience to provide a detailed analysis of each door’s condition. Which takes you back to square one!

There is another option which in Halspan’s opinion, based on more than 20 years’ market leadership in fire safety compliance, represents by far the best practice when carrying out crucial fire door checks.

“If you want to know for sure whether a fire door is fit for purpose, then a detailed inspection, by an expert, is the sensible option,” explains Simon Kelly, Halspan’s Operations Manager – Inspection Services. “And there’s no one better than Halspan® Inspection Services,” Simon continues.

“Our trained Inspectors will quickly and effectively identify which of your assets are compliant, which aren’t and what corrective action needs to be taken. For existing fire door systems, that might mean the difference between a compliant, notional fire door or a door that requires action or indeed replacement. Whatever the inspection’s outcome, you’ll know what to do next to maintain compliance and reduce risk.

“If any remedial work is required, we can work with you to select an appropriate specialist contractor.

“As well as identifying where corrective action is needed,” continues Simon, “Halspan® Inspection Services can also help you to prioritise what should be done first, making the job of managing crucial fire safety assets easier.”

How Halspan Inspection Services works

Delivered by a nationwide network of Halspan accredited Inspectors – all trained by Halspan to its exacting standards – Halspan Inspection Services combines market leadership in fire safety compliance with the purpose-designed Halspan® Tracker asset management system.

“At the heart of our Halspan Tracker asset management system lies the Halspan® Smart Tag,” explains Simon. “This is an identification tag which can either be fitted to a door blank or core, for example, during fabrication or retrofitted to existing doorsets and door assemblies. Either way, the Halspan Smart Tag stays with the asset throughout its service life.

“A record of each Smart Tag is created on the Halspan Tracker online asset management system. This record is updated whenever the asset is inspected, or maintenance work is carried out. Over time, this builds up a complete picture of the asset’s quality assurance journey, from cradle to grave.”

“By scanning the Smart Tag using the Halspan Tracker app on their smart devices, our Inspectors identify the asset and open up its quality assurance record, before completing a comprehensive step-by-step inspection or maintenance checklist and delivering their assessment.

“Complementing Halspan® Tracker’s unrivalled functionality, all our Inspectors perform in accordance with the Halspan Inspector Charter and every door inspection is carried out in accordance with Halspan Inspection Protocols, ensuring consistent, technically accurate results every time,” says Simon.

More reasons to choose Halspan

Developed in response to building safety reforms and designed to save lives and safeguard property, Halspan® Inspection Services offers a host of other benefits too.

“An integral part of the Halspan Verified quality assurance scheme, Halspan® Inspection Services fully satisfies the requirements of the so-called ‘Golden Thread’ of information,” explains Simon.

“By providing a complete digital record of inspection and maintenance and storing all the quality assurance information collected securely in the cloud, Halspan® Inspection Services complies with both the new code of practice for digital management of fire safety information (BS 8644-1) and Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC) recommendations,” continues Simon.

“Building fire safety compliance is time critical, of course, so Halspan Inspection Services provides a fast, responsive service in line with our Halspan Customer Charter.

“Last but certainly not least, Halspan is a name you can trust. An assurance of quality and integrity for over 20 years, no one knows more about fire safety in buildings,” says Simon.

To discuss your inspection requirements, call +44 (0)3300 563836 or email info@halspan.com.