An alarming level of misunderstanding about fire doors exists among specifiers, manufacturers and installers, says Bob Vollmer, director of Bitcon Industries in Jet Park.

Bitcon - one of the oldest manufacturers of fire, transformer, radiation and security doors in Africa – is this year celebrating its 50th year of operations.

Vollmer states: “The current regulation SANS 1253 2003 require all fire doors to be supplied as factory pre-hung door and frame units and to be labelled, confirming compliance with the relevant fire rating. Legislation calls for specific information - such as the manufacturers’ name, serial number, date of manufacture and the fire classification rating - to be legibly and indelibly displayed on the labels. It must be clearly conveyed to developers, contractors or sub-contractors - such as painters - that theses labels must not be removed or painted over,” Vollmer cautioned.

“In the case of Class E fire doors - often installed in `low risk’ areas, such as between a garage and a domestic dwelling – all too often the fire door is not supplied as a unit and is hung on unsuitable wooden frames. This completely negates the fire insulation qualities of the door and puts the owner or tenant at risk as they have no assurances and recourse when supplied with doors that are not capable of fulfilling the function for which they were intended,” he stated.

If clients are in any doubt regarding the legitimacy of their fire door, they should request the manufacturers to supply their test report for the specified fire rating for the type of door to supplied - be it a single, double or sliding door. A single door test report does not automatically cover the full spectrum of fire doors: each type, whether single, double, or sliding, has to be tested. Manufacturers should also supply a test report in respect of doors fitted with viewing panels, which are permitted in certain door classifications.

“Above all, the test report should be issued in the manufacturers’ name and be a true reflection of the door supplied - especially in respect of the core material used in the construction of the door. Should a manufacturer change the core material of the doors, the producer cannot continue using the previous door test report and the doors with the new core material have to be re-tested.

“The use of test reports in the name of other manufacturers is not permitted even when similar core material is used.

“Bitcon believes the professions have the responsibility to verify that the fire door installed by contractors is, in fact, the fire door that was specified. Too often, alternate and cheaper fire doors are installed, ignoring the original specification. No attempt is then usually made to obtain specifiers’ approval for the cheaper door installed. The result invariably is either costly legislation or expensive remedial work in the event of a fire,” Vollmer added.