The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, due to be introduced in October, will attempt to consolidate more than 100 pieces of fire safety legislation.
Local fire authorities will no longer be responsible for fire certification of buildings. Instead, responsible and competent persons, which could be employers or occupiers, must carry out fire risk assessments and undertake prevention and protection measures.
“I think manufacturers should be marketing their fire doors to risk assessors and persuading them to adopt higher standards for the sake of their professional indemnity insurance,” said Peter Jackson, technical director of International Fire Consultants (IFC) Ltd.
“This is an opportunity to increase the quality of products on site.”
He thought the high insulation capacity of timber fire doors provided a low risk for assessors, particularly in fire refuges for the disabled.
“We recognise there may be a need for us to communicate the benefits of fire doors to these new risk assessors within organisations, as part of our overall marketing to end users,” said Mark Roberts, of joinery manufacturer Jeld-Wen.
The company is working alongside the British Woodworking Federation (BWF) to raise the profile of fire doors in a high profile campaign targeting consumers later this year.
“There will definitely be more interest in fire safety products,” BWF director Richard Lambert said. “People will pay a lot more attention to fire doors. Whether they would be prepared to upgrade is another matter.”
IFC will hold a seminar on July 12 about how the legislation will affect product marketing.
