The Importance Of Fire Damper Testing

In the UK, it is a legal requirement to have fire dampers tested and maintained to ensure they are functioning properly in the event of a fire. One of the ways this can be done is through fire dampers testing. This testing involves inspection, diagnostics, testing the mechanisms of the fire dampers through drop tests, fire dampers maintenance, the creation of an up-to-date fire damper report when inspections take place and more. But first, what is a fire damper and why is their testing so important?

What is a fire damper?

Fire dampers are an important safety feature in buildings, designed to prevent the spread of fire and smoke through the building’s HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system. A fire damper is a passive mechanism that can be operated either electronically when it is connected to a smoke alarm or fire detection system or it can be operated on a thermal basis. The latter means that when a certain temperature is reached, the fire damper automatically shuts down to prevent oxygen flow in heating, ventilation and air conditioning ducts and systems so as to halt a fire from spreading in a building.

Why is fire damper testing so important?

Fire damper testing is crucial for any building not only because of the crucial role it performs in the eventual prevention of a fire’s spread but also because it is a legal requirement. Building owners, employers or occupants who fail to undertake regular fire damper testing could be subjected to legal consequences. Not to mention the risk of putting people’s lives in danger in the event of a fire when attempting to evacuate a building.

What is the legislation behind fire damper testing?

Fire dampers regulations in the UK are outlined in the Building Regulations Approved Document B (Fire Safety) Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellinghouses. There are several regulations which come into play:

• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order of 2005, which stipulates that it is the employer’s responsibility to maintain their fire safety systems, and
• BS 9999 fire damper regulations, which were first written in 2008 and then updated in 2017 to “reflect the changes in building design and construction.”

Further to this, BS 9999:2017 states that “… all fire dampers to be tested by a competent person on completion of the installation and at annual intervals. Spring-operated fire dampers should be tested annually and fire dampers situated in dust-laden and similar atmospheres should be tested much more frequently, at periods suited to the degree of pollution.” Dampers in hospitals or high-risk environments will require more frequent testing. As a result, the answer to the question “is fire damper testing a legal requirement”, the answer is “yes”.

In addition, if you’re wondering how often should fire dampers be replaced, the answer is this will be determined after testing each of the fire dampers in a given building. If one or more are found to be faulty during testing and inspection, they should be replaced immediately.

How often should fire dampers be tested?

Now that your legal obligation for fire damper testing has been established, it’s also important to take a look at how often these tests should be carried out. As mentioned above with regard to BS 9999:2017, if you want to be fully compliant, you will need to carry out testing once a year and for hospitals and other similar environments, these tests should be carried out more frequently.

The standard also states that fire dampers should be inspected during any maintenance or cleaning of the building’s HVAC system and that any defects or issues should be repaired or replaced as soon as possible.

It’s important to note that the frequency of testing may be increased if the building is considered to be at a higher risk of fire, or if the fire dampers have previously been found to be defective or non-compliant.

It’s also important to note that BS 9999:2017 is a code of practice and not a regulation, but it is a widely used guidance in the UK and many building designers, fire engineers, and authorities would refer to it.

How is a fire damper tested?

A fire damper inspection checklist will require that a visual inspection is performed as is a fire damper drop test. With regard to the former, it’s crucial to ensure that, when conducting a visual inspection, the fire damper is free of dust and debris and other obstacles that could prevent it from dropping and optimally sealing the duct in question. This will also require looking at whether there is rust on the fire damper, whether it is damaged in any way and if there are obstructions to its proper use.

But what is fire damper drop test? And which test is generally performed after the installation of a fire damper? The drop test is when the inspecting competent person performs a test where they manually drop the fire damper to ensure it can shut down in the event of a fire. Because this is generally a manually performed procedure, it does not require the use of special fire damper testing tools, although these will be necessary if new fire dampers are to be installed correctly.

Who can test a fire damper?

According to the UK regulations for testing fire dampers, this needs to be carried out by what is considered a “competent person.” By definition of the standard in section 3.23, this person is “suitably trained and qualified by knowledge and practical experience, and provided with the necessary instructions, to enable the required task(s) to be carried out correctly.”

Closing remarks

The legislation around fire dampers requirements may be lengthy and extensive but it is clear about one thing: that fire dampers in buildings need to be tested and checked at least once a year to ensure that lives can be saved and damage caused by fires kept to a minimum.

Ducting Express are not a fire damper testing company but we supply fire dampers as well as a wide variety of ducting & fittings. If you have any questions about fire dampers or dampers in general, please contact us.