Fire damper testing is an essential maintenance activity for every building. Fire dampers are one of the most important components in building safety and are also required by law. Such vital systems for human health and economic damage must be checked regularly to ensure they are in working order, otherwise lives are at risk. It is recommended that fire dampers should be tested and inspected every year once they have been installed.
Being compliant is key when you are a building owner and ensuring safety is another responsibility one must keep on top of. Let’s take a step back and refresh our memories about fire dampers, their importance and fire damper testing.
What does a fire damper do?
To keep it simple, fire dampers are mechanisms that are installed within the walls of a building in order to prevent fire. These dampers are installed in the air distribution system in an open position and they are required to be open at all times – in case of a fire of course. When they detect a certain temperature within the building, they automatically shut down to prevent airflow and flame spread. Automatic shutdown in case of a fire usually occurs with the help of a fusible link or spring. The blades of fire dampers are held open with links or springs. In the event of a fire, the link or the spring releases due to the temperature rise and the blades of the fire damper close. This is a most simple, yet most effective way of preventing fire spread and damage within buildings. Installation of these fire dampers are also required by law and they must be tested regularly for faults or potential failure. There are many different fire damper types but their core working principle is the same: when the temperature rises with the building, the blades shut automatically to prevent the fire from spreading and causing fatal damage.
To be more specific, they are located within the ductwork at the intersection of fire rated barriers in building zones like partitions at the point of duct penetration in order to retain the fire rating of the wall or floor. The fire damper secures the integrity of the existing barrier, preventing fire spread before temperatures reach the fire rating level of the barrier itself. As we have stated above, its main function is to prevent the passage of fire from one side to the other of a fire-rated separation. The damper is manufactured to a high standard of integrity, designed to resist high temperatures for as long as possible.
What is fire damper testing?
As fire dampers are a vital part of your buildings’ safety, it is really important to ensure they are checked and inspected. If you’re a new business owner, building specifier or architect, in the market for fire dampers, the selection process of such an important building element is crucial, there are national and international standards as well as regulations around the use of certified products. The relevant certification is a guarantee of conformity for the product being specified and what can be expected from it. Further to ensuring certified products are used, testing should be carried out by competent companies, such as Perfect Service Solutions, who will examine and test the product against the relevant standards when they are in situ. The performance of a safety product’s performance will always be open to scrutiny where testing has not been carried out by a competent, qualified operator. As well as legislative, it is key to be sure of a safety product’s performance in such a critical area of fire safety.
There are many further reading references on this topic, including the regulations and the methodology of fire & smoke damper testing. We have gathered and simplified some of the reading around fire damper inspection and fire damper testing but also provide you with the corresponding links to the guides for your information.
The standard BS EN 1366-2 defines the requirements for testing dampers, with a requirement to close within two minutes of the test start. After closure, a 300Pa pressure is applied to the damper, and the damper leakage (corrected to 20°C) is recorded during the rest of the test.
Every size and model of fire dampers on the market should be tested. Simply put, the pass and fail criteria are included in the standard in terms of:
- Integrity – the ability to withstand fire when subjected to a furnace-mounted fire resistance test
- Leakage – the ability of the damper to resist the passage of gases or smoke both at ambient temperature and at a set profile of test fire temperatures
- Insulation – which assesses the ability of a damper to withstand fire exposure without the transmission of fire as a result of significant transfer of heat. The rating is not required by law for dampers in the UK.
It is common for the UK industry to refer to ‘E’ classified products as ‘fire dampers’ and ‘ES’ classified products as ‘fire and smoke dampers’. We will take a look at smoke dampers on another blog. Remember, you need a professional team to do a fire damper inspection. Have a look at our Fire Damper Services and obtain a quote from our experienced professionals who will walk you through the process as you endeavor to keep your building safe and compliant.
Here are some useful links for further reading:
