Fire door manufacturer develops industry-first solution to ‘transform’ fire safety sector

14 September 2020


A UK fire door manufacturer, supported by Made Smarter, has developed an industry-first solution to make safety inspections faster and more accurate, in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Contactless Check Solutions (CCS), based in Maryport, Cumbria, has created a simple method to ensure fire door compliance in line with UK regulations. CCS directors Sean Parnaby, David Reay and Andrew Tyas, of West Port Timber Windows & Doors, have been involved in manufacturing fire doors for almost 20 years.

Their method involves using a pin containing a unique identifier that is installed into a fire door at manufacture or retrofitted. The CCS fire inspection app installed on a smartphone or tablet is used to scan the pin and give the inspector access to the door’s manufacturing and maintenance history in real time. The app will then prompt the inspector to complete a checklist with compulsory photos which automatically update the record stored on the cloud.

Building owners and managers will have quick and easy access to see a complete overview of all their fire door stock, site by site, floor by floor, using a simple traffic light system, and the history of each and every door.

The innovation makes it easier for owners and managers to ensure compliance with UK regulations by establishing a consistent system for fire door inspection programmes, regardless of the type of building.

CCS is targeting manufacturers of the six million new fire doors which are produced every year in the UK, as well as the managers of the hundreds of millions of fire doors currently installed. CCS is being supported by the Made Smarter North West adoption pilot, which is helping SME manufacturers to adopt digital technologies.

“The fire safety industry is under intense scrutiny after Grenfell,” said Mr Tyas, managing director of CCS.

“The government is looking closely at how and when fire doors are inspected, maintained and managed. The development of this project will benefit the people responsible for the building as well as the regulatory authority to ensure correct inspections are being carried out in accordance with building regs.

"Made Smarter funding and advice has accelerated development of the technology by two years and dramatically increased our chances of being first to market with a technology that could transform the fire safety sector.”

CCS estimates that its faster and more accurate digital solution could save up to 70% of the inspection time and cost. It predicts the new technology is forecast to increase productivity four-fold because it enables more doors to be inspected on a daily basis than could be achieved with a manual check, inputting and reporting.