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Passive Fire Protection Project at Luxury Castle Hotel

Approaching refurbishment work in a historic building is fraught with challenges. Architecture is part of our cultural story. We must do all we can to preserve and protect it. When it comes to fire doors, this can be a problem though. So how do we approach the problem of fire doors in historic and listed buildings?

Old Meets New

In recent decades, the codes and standards surrounding fire safety have evolved hugely. These changes are easy to implement in new buildings as they are being constructed. What happens when centuries old castles have to be brought up to standard though?

Some of Scotland’s most beautiful buildings are rich with history. People in the 17th century didn’t care much for fire doors though. So now, when historic buildings are turned into hotels, tourist attractions or even homes, they trail far behind our 21st century standards of fire safety.

Upgrading Fire Doors in Heritage Buildings

Even though a building is defined as listed, protected or given any kind of historical status, it still has to comply with current fire safety regulations. This is for the protection of people dwelling within the building – be they hotel guests, staff, visitors or other.

In the event of a fire, the passive fire protection plan for your heritage building must work in the same way as it does for any other building. This means it must contain a fire sufficiently in one place for long enough to give occupants time to escape.

 

Who Can Upgrade Fire Doors in Historic Buildings?

To carry out any type of work on fire doors, you need a certified fire door inspector. A certified fire door inspector has the necessary knowledge, expertise and access to resources in order to do the job correctly.

Only when a fire door has been inspected, repaired or maintained by a certified professional can you be certain it is in line with current regulations.

Examples of Fire Doors and Passive Fire Protection in Heritage Buildings

Worksmart Fire Door Inspection has recently signed off a large-scale project at Glenapp Castle. Having begun the initial enabling works in December 2019, the project spanned the entirety of 2020, including the difficult early stages of the pandemic.

The passive fire works at the site was the greatest challenge on the job. After an initial three-week timescale, the passive fire protection aspect of the works continued to grow.

This is due to the historic construction of the building. As the job progressed, our passive fire experts were met by more and more challenges.

Passive Fire Protection in Historic Buildings

Attempting to use modern fire safety techniques on such an old building is understandably problematic.

In order to retain the original charm, we were keen to preserve all the original timber and covings throughout. However, when that wasn’t possible, the had to replicate and replace them to meet the required standards for fire safety.

During the works, Worksmart FDI has installed new fire doors, timber floors and structural timbers as part of the passive fire works. Ornate timber facings, skirtings, dado, and picture rails have also been installed alongside passive fire partitions which use Superlux boards.

For the safety of the users within the new luxury suite, we installed a fully passive fire floor with walls which helped to form a fire strategy.

Along with this, we have installed a stair pressurisation system. In the event of a fire, this is activated within the suite, increasing the air pressure up to 9m 3 per second.

This system allows the occupants to escape by holding back the fire.

Upon the arrival of the SFRS (Scottish Fire Rescue Service), they will be able to activate an emergency button to release the doors and allow the smoke to escape.

Fire Door Responsibilities

Worksmart FDI are delighted to have been involved in the installation of the new fire doors and implementation of passive fire protection in what is now a luxury hotel.

The owners of Glenapp Castle were aware of their responsibilities and took action to ensure their fire doors were up to scratch. Their vision for a luxury accommodation was inspiring. It was a true pleasure to work with them on this project.

We urge anyone with responsibilities to fire safety to take the same steps and contact a certified fire door specialist.

If you would to get in touch to find out more, please contact Mark McQuade at [email protected] or call 01563 53 55 11

In the meantime, feel free to browse our website.

You can find us on Twitter and LinkedIn with the following hashtags: ProtectingLivesPreventingLoss #Worksmartworksafe #Firedoormaster #MakeItWorksmart

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Are Fire Doors at Student Accommodation Fit for Purpose?

How safe are the fire doors at your student accommodation?

There’s been a lot about the safety of students in the news lately. Fresh faces are arriving at their new student accommodation for the new term. One thing people don’t ever seem to mention though, is whether fire doors in student accommodation are fit for purpose?

Much of the news coverage has focussed on Covid-19 and the effects of being locked down. However, we would like to open a discussion about the safety of the buildings they are living in.

Do student accommodation providers take fire safety seriously enough?

According to a recent study by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), there are some 660,000 students living in PBSA during term time. These are split almost evenly between university residences and private sector purpose built student accommodation (PBSA).

These are great places for students to live, especially in their first year. It’s easy to meet people. They have all the necessary facilities to hand. And most importantly, accommodation managers are visible and easy to contact.

There is always a great deal of responsibility in providing living accommodation to people, no matter who they are or the type of accommodation.

However, in this situation, where there may be hundreds of students living in one building, with dozens of kitchens, hundreds of appliances and people who may not be fire risk aware, fulfilling that responsibility is very complex.

student accommodation

Fire Door Inspections in Student Accommodation

We have inspected fire resistant doors in 3 PBSAs in Scotland over the last couple of months. Thankfully, we have found it really encouraging to be liaising with several of these PBSAs.

However, what we have discovered has been mixed. Most fire doors at student accommodations we have inspected have needed attention of some sort. There have even been one or two that would be described as critically flawed.

The most alarming (but not surprising) thing we found are doors that have been incorrectly installed or modified. This includes FD30 fire doors fitted where an FD60 fire door had been specified.

This means someone has fitted a fire door that can only last for 30 minutes in place of one that can last for 60 minutes.

Misinformation and confusion could cost the lives of students or fire fighters if there was to be a blaze.

student accommodation

Book a Fire Door Inspection at your Student Accommodation

We need to take Fire doors seriously. This is especially true in the world of student accommodation. Students have a right to live in a safe environment. Landlords and accommodation providers have a duty of care to ensure fire doors are up to standard.

We hope others can now start to follow the example of the providers we have been in contact with recently.

These doors are safety critical, life saving devices – essential components of your fire safety strategy. If they fail, then so does the strategy.

Here’s a few basic things you can do to help you decide if your fire doors need attention –

  • NEVER wedge or block a fire door open.
  • Does your door close completely, unaided, even when only opened slightly.
  • Are the gaps around the door the right size? Use a £1 coin – it’s about 3mm thick, the perfect size for the gap.
  • Are the fire & smoke seals (strips around the door or frame) in good condition?

If the answer to any of these questions is NO, you should be contacting a fire door specialist to check them out. Likewise if you are a student/resident, you should inform your building manager.

Accredited Fire Door Inspection Specialists

We are the only company in Scotland to hold accreditations from both the FDIS (Fire Door Inspection Scheme) and BM Trada Q Mark for these activities and we have an extensive reach throughout Scotland and beyond.

If you would to get in touch to find out more, please contact Mark McQuade at [email protected] or call 01563 53 55 11

In the meantime, feel free to browse our website.

You can find us on Twitter and LinkedIn with the following hashtags: ProtectingLivesPreventingLoss #Worksmartworksafe #Firedoormaster #MakeItWorksmart