The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has issued an urgent fire safety warning over incorrectly installed dampers in ventilation systems.
BESA is urging remedial action “without delay” to address a potential fire risk, thought to impact a large number of ventilation systems and “a huge number of dampers” where installation has not complied with manufacturers’ instructions.
Due to the urgency of the situation BESA has taken the unusual step of issuing an interim technical bulletin (VH001) ahead of full updated industry guidance for the ‘Installation of Fire Dampers and Smoke Dampers’ (DW145) due out at its conference in October.
Head of technical Graeme Fox said the problem related to the “dangerous practice” of using self-drilling ‘tek’ screws which do not melt when temperatures rise during a building fire. Installing in this way, means spring-loaded dampers will not be released to contain the spread of fire within the zone and ensure the integrity of the fire stopping measure.
The dampers must be secured by fusible fixings that allow the duct to break away, otherwise the collapsing duct could pull the damper out of place and break the seal between the fire zones.
Fox added: “While this is clearly a very worrying situation, we can take some reassurance from the fact that this problem is being brought to our attention by the increasing frequency of fire damper inspections and tests as awareness grows of this extremely important issue.
“We would urge contractors to alert their clients immediately so all the necessary checks and repairs can be carried out.”
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