So here we are at the close of Fire Door Safety Week. A week where we have seen the industry become alive with awareness and advice for anyone responsible for building safety and employee wellbeing. Great advice it has been too.

Also a week where plenty of fire door related initiatives, products and services have been launched.

One such product we are especially proud of is our new Fire Door Inspection app.

A fully functioning cloud based system which can store all details of doors, certification, installation and inspection. A full life cycle service record, digitally held. No more papers, no more late nights typing up your inspections.

This app isn’t just for the current crop of Fire Door Inspectors. We see it as an additional tool for door manufacturers to be able to sign off compliant installations and continue to inspect and service their doors thereafter.

We can even facilitate Fire Door Inspection Training for customers should they wish to become inspectors.

And the beauty of it all is it is pay as you go. Allowing inspectors to start making a profit from day 1.

We have also ramped up our staff training and resource material. Anyone who has tried to make a fire door will confess it is a minefield of questions. Does the door need to be BS 476 or BS EN1634? Is it to be built to Certifire or Q- Mark? Can my selected door blank be fitted with the size of vision panel I need and if so what glazing system can I use?

These are the type of questions we field daily. It seems a lot of bloody questions for a lump of wood that people hold open with fire extinguishers but they are essential for the correct manufacture and installation of an engineered passive fire device.

Our role as a distributor sees us carrying the largest range and stock of intumescent and acoustic door seals in the UK. All available for next day delivery and because of this we need to keep on top of our game and provide the best advice available.

Fire doors are a complex item. They need to be manufactured exactly as the test evidence states, using the range of products listed, to the sizes permitted.

They must be installed exactly as tested, not missing the method of fixing to the supporting wall and the method of frame sealing to comply with fire regulations. Then for their life cycle they should be inspected and maintained following the original evidence used at manufacture.

There is little wonder so many fire doors are inspected as failed, but with the knowledge and determination this industry has I’m certain we can eradicate problems. And I know Norseal can play a major part in this.

Michael