Updated damper guidance “critical for fire safety push” asserts BESA

The publication is the latest development in the Association’s campaign to improve building safety standards in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster. It also follows the warning it issued last year that annual maintenance inspections were uncovering a significant number of incorrectly installed dampers that did not comply with manufacturers’ instructions.

DW145 covers statutory requirements for the installation, testing and maintenance of fire dampers and smoke control dampers including clients’ legal obligations to ensure their fire safety systems comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 for England and Wales and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

The publication entitled DW145: Fire Dampers and Leakage Guide to Good Practice for Installation, Design and Selection, Inspection and Maintenance also explains the crucial role played by the penetration seal in ensuring the overall fire stopping integrity of an installation.

It also covers other critical issues, among them maintenance teams being able to easily find and access dampers for testing and repair, and also why designers and installers should seek expert advice from damper manufacturers.

Identified as a priority

Revising this guidance was identified as a priority by the Association in the wake of the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry because of the important part dampers play in overall building fire safety strategies.

“Since the Grenfell Tower disaster the building services industry has, quite rightly, faced increasingly intensive scrutiny,” said Kevin Morrissey, chair of BESA’s Technical Committee. “As a result, the Association has been urgently reviewing its technical guidance and supporting this work with the provision of targeted training to ensure everyone involved in the design, installation and maintenance of fire dampers and smoke dampers is aware of what’s needed to keep people and property safe.”

Morrissey continued: “Unsurprisingly, UK fire authorities are taking an in-depth interest in this aspect of building safety. For their part, clients are now more aware of their legal and moral obligations. In turn, this places greater pressure on damper and ductwork contractors to provide evidence of their competence and ability to comply with legislation.”

As a result, the revisions to DW145 clarify several critical fire safety issues, including the importance of systems being designed to allow easy access such that maintenance teams can carry out testing, fault finding investigations and repairs. It also highlights the need for care and consideration throughout the specification and installation works and that, if in doubt, designers and installers should seek expert advice from manufacturers.

Following instructions

BESA added that the revised guidance emphasises the importance of following manufacturers’ instructions, but also addresses some of the issues associated with those instructions that can cause confusion. For example, some are clearer than others on the best methods for hanging and supporting dampers.

The Association said that DW145 provides a quality benchmark for the industry by outlining some examples of typical installations to further ease compliance with safety requirements. It also stresses that the system designer should provide a schedule that includes the specific damper asset reference associated with factors such as the wall type, damper classification, boundary construction and specific installation method.

DW145 also advises that each installation should be further supported by photographic evidence of each stage of the install, for example from hanging/supporting the damper through to the addition of the fire stopping. According to BSA, all of these measures will give peace of mind to clients and reduce contractors’ level of risk.

“The Technical Committee members behind the revision, who gave up so much of their valuable time and expertise, have done the industry a great service,” concluded Morrissey. “This document delivers a new industry benchmark for the installation, testing and maintenance of fire and smoke dampers. It can now take its place as a key part of the increasingly rigorous and more professional fire safety regime designed to protect building occupants and minimise future risk to life and property.”

Awareness training

The BESA Academy is also offering a short online course on Fire and Smoke Damper Awareness, which itself is based on the updated standard. As well as covering the core elements of DW145, including legal obligations under the Fire Safety Order and Best Practice in damper installation, the course provides clarity on the key compliance standards for safety systems and fire stopping integrity.

It also explains the guidance on installation techniques and damper placements and will help participants avoid common installation errors. The training also covers documentation Best Practice, including how to provide photographic evidence and asset referencing.

The DW145 course takes approximately 45 minutes to complete. Non-BESA members can purchase a DW145 bundle, which includes the new publication and free access to the training. BESA members can download DW145 for free and receive a discounted rate of £44 (plus VAT) for the course.

The revised and updated DW145 guidance can be downloaded here