Preparing for Grenfell Report Phase 2
Phase 2 of the Grenfell report due on September 4th 2024 is long awaited across the industry. With the release of the report imminent, Nicola John, MD at Fire Door Maintenance (FDM) reflects on Phase 1 and discusses what she hopes to see in the second instalment…
Looking back
Grenfell Phase 1 took place from 21st May 2018 to 12th December 2018; the report published on 30th October 2019. It will be almost five years when Phase 2 report is published, but, in those five years, what has changed in the fire door industry?
Significant changes have occurred within the manufacture of fire doors, primary test evidence, bidirectional testing and 3rd party certification however what about when the door is on site?
Phase 1 recommended the following (page 779):
A: that the owner and manager of every residential building containing separate dwellings (whether or not they are high rise buildings) carry out an urgent inspection of all fire doors to ensure that they comply with applicable legislative standards.
B: that the owner manager of every residential building containing separate dwellings (whether or not they are high-rise buildings) be require by law to carry out checks at not less than three monthly intervals to ensure that all fire doors are fitted with effective self-closing devices in working order.
We have certainly seen some new pieces of legislation and some concise guidance around buildings 11m and over in relation to fire door inspections. However, what about 11m and under?
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO/FSO) makes it a legal requirement to ensure that fire resisting doors and escape doors are correctly installed and adequately maintained in order for them to be fit for purpose. This has been the case for around 19 years.
To ensure they are correctly maintained you would need to inspect them to ensure compliance, but the lack of a timeframe in this document seems to rely on interpretation and we see varying degrees of compliance.
Regulation 10 was also brought in to assist owner/managers with this task, however in our experience many landlords do not think that fire door inspections relate to them or indeed the legal requirement to pass on information regarding fire doors to the tenants on an annual basis at worst.
Our discussions with landlords have unfortunately led us to believe that not all regulation 10 checks have been undertaken or documented once let alone several times since the report was published in October 2019.
Looking ahead
At FDM, we expect to see the Phase 2 report focus on fire doors and the spread of smoke within the tower due to underperforming doors. Barbara Lane drew attention in Phase 1 to serious questions regarding the fire doors throughout the tower both flat doors and stairwell doors.
Phase 2 will report on the investigations that took place during phase 2 inquiry and whether the doors complied with the regulations and guidance applicable at the time they were installed.
Why didn’t they provide appropriate protection against the smoke and fire spread on the night?
Why had closers been disconnected and by whom? Ensuring that these doors would not close effectively in the fire, contributing to the spread of fire and smoke.
We expect to see recommendations in relation to maintaining fire doors in accordance with manufacturer's instructions and using correct repair techniques.
We would like to see further clarity around more detailed regular fire door inspections (rather than regulation 10 checks) irrespective of height of building.
At FDM, we would also like to see registration of site operatives who work on fire doors – inspectors, maintainers and installers in a central register against a set criteria and competency framework.
Looking at FDM
At FDM, we promote fire door inspections using digital inspection tools saved in the cloud for recording of all information relating to the door. We have also produced a tenant video regarding keeping your fire door safe; which has compliance software attached to ensure landlords know when tenants have watched this vitally important information film. Our on-site inspection team is 3rd party accredited.
We provide a practical hands on training experience alongside theoretical assessment at our purpose-built training facility as we believe practical roles require a safe practice area to improve your knowledge, skills and behaviours before you work on a lifesaving product on site. We hope that all fire door training will evolve in this way in the future.
Above all, we hope that Phase 2 will hopefully bring about more positive change for the wider industry involved with training, fitting, inspecting, and maintaining fire doors; aligning with our own vision and values at FDM, and the work we do every day.
