How Do Fire Dampers Work?
As a business, safety should always be your top priority. Here at Coming Clean, we’re proud to be able to deliver a fire damper maintenance service to all of our clients.
Designed to prevent the spread of fire in your building, fire dampers are an invaluable resource that you want to be sure are fully operational. However, without regular maintenance, your fire dampers could malfunction when you need them most and cause untold fire damage to your building. For this reason, effective testing is of paramount importance.
Expertly trained and fully certified to maintain your fire dampers to BS9999 standards, our fire damper maintenance service will keep your fire dampers in good working order, keep you compliant with standards such as the Regulatory Reform Order 2005, and give you peace of mind.
Fire dampers can fail for several reasons, and understanding these can help business owners ensure their safety systems work properly. Above all, a lack of regular testing and maintenance can lead to issues like rust, corrosion, or dirt buildup, which can jam the dampers, while physical obstructions such as cables or other materials blocking the damper can prevent it from closing. Regular inspections and proper installation according to guidelines are essential to keep these critical safety devices in working order.
What Causes Fire Dampers To Fail?
Why Choose Us to Test and Maintain your Fire Dampers?
Compliance
We’ll ensure your building is compliant with BS9999, the Regulatory Reform Order 2005, and BS EN 1366.
Hassle-Free
We’ll carry out our service in a way that causes minimal disruption to your building and business.
Comprehensive Service
From inspection and testing to maintenance and reporting, we’re able to deliver a complete fire damper service.
Our Fire Damping Testing & Maintenance Process
At Coming Clean, we’ve perfected all of our processes so that regardless of the service we’re carrying out, you can expect us to deliver it in a way that works for you.
Our fire damper testing and maintenance service begins with you getting in touch with us. We’ll ask you for some information, such as your location, the nature of your building, and what your fire damper needs are.
Once we have all of this, we’ll arrange to come out and carry out a detailed survey of your building so that we have all of the information we need. This survey will always be carried out at a time that suits you. After this, we’ll present you with a maintenance plan along with a non-obligatory quote, before agreeing on a time for us to carry out our plan.
Our expert team will then come back to carry out the planned testing and maintenance, ensuring that all of your fire dampers are in good working order. This will also include carrying out an inventory check, drop testing each fire damper, cleaning any necessary parts, and if necessary, we’ll replace any dampers that are no longer fully operational.
Once our testing and maintenance have been carried out, we’ll then compile a report which details all of the steps we took and includes an inventory of your fire dampers and any recommendations on further steps to take. We’ll also include all evidence and documentation you may need to prove compliance with a range of standards, including BS9999 and the Fire Safety Order 2005.
First, you’ll get in touch with us and tell us a bit about your building and your fire system. Once we have this, we’ll then arrange a survey of your building at a time that’s convenient for you.
At the agreed date and time, we’ll come to you to carry out a detailed survey so that we’re able to give you a tailor made maintenance plan, along with a no-obligation quote.
We’ll come back at a pre-arranged time that won’t cause you any disruption to carry out the planned maintenance, making sure that every damper in your building is installed correctly and in good working order.
Finally, we’ll write up a comprehensive report that details the location of each fire damper in your building, the steps we took to maintain them, and any repairs or replacements we carried out.
Commercial Fire Damper Testing Regulations
Compliance & Certification
Whether you own the building or you’re running a business and are obliged to make sure that your staff can work there safely, you have a legal responsibility to ensure that your building is equipped to deal with a fire. There are many steps you’ll have to take, and making sure that your fire dampers are in good order is one of them.
At Coming Clean, we have the expertise and training to help you meet all necessary standards, including:
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BS9999
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Fire Safety Order 2005
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BS EN 1366
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BESCA
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Plus any local regulations.
If you fail to meet any of these standards, you can face fines, closure, and worse. Luckily, we know what’s needed to keep you compliant in every regard.
Andrew Dearle, Managing Director
Bird in Hand
These guys do a great job. I have been a customer of Coming Clean for a number of years now. They are very professional and accommodating with the times we have available.
Fay & Anthony Stallan, Company Directors
Fay's Bistro
I have used Coming Clean for years to clean my extractor fan. Stefan and his team are always very pleasant, helpful and reliable. They do a great professional job.
Paul Downing, Group Managing Director
Dart Marina Hotel
Coming Clean has been looking after us for more than 10 years, and we have never had a reason to consider an alternative company. This year more than ever, they have been incredibly flexible in moving dates around due to Lockdowns.
Karen Holliday, Operations Manager
Very efficient, helpful, committed, and extremely hard working. Will not leave unless the job is perfectly done! The guys give you 200%. Customer services are very efficient and have great communication.
Paula Webley, Managing Director
As always, excellent service. We have used them for the past 4 years and wouldn't dream of using anyone else.
Jason Hobbs, Managing Director
I have used Coming Clean for many years and have always been impressed on their service and attention to detail. I will always highly recommend Coming Clean and his team to the industry.
Julie Rainbow, Managing Director
A very professional job from a very professional company. Thanks guys.
Ross Williams, Head Chef
Very thorough and professional job would recommend.
What our clients say
How Often Should Fire Dampers Be Checked?
At an absolute minimum, your fire dampers should be tested annually to ensure that you’re meeting all the necessary industry and legal standards. However, we highly recommend that you get your dampers tested more regularly than this, especially if they’re placed in a location that might be particularly dusty or polluted.
Fire dampers can go wrong for a number of reasons, which is why it’s always better to err on the side of caution. That’s why we recommend that your dampers have a maintenance service carried out at least once each year, during which they’ll be inspected for signs of damage or corrosion, cleaned, and given a full operation test.
On top of this, we also recommend that our clients have their fire dampers inspected at least every 6 months, and arrange to have a quick functionality test carried out by a qualified person every 3 months.
FAQS
While fire dampers are designed to stop the spread of fire in a building, smoke dampers are unsurprisingly designed to prevent the spread of smoke. Usually connected to a building's smoke detection system, they’ll electronically engage when the smoke is detected in the building.
The main difference between the two is that open fire dampers will let air travel through them when they’re not engaged, whereas closed fire dampers prevent the flow of air. This alters how they operate in the event of a fire, with open dampers closing to contain the fire in one room, whereas closed dampers may actually open in certain conditions in order to manage smoke levels.
There are a number of reasons why fire dampers are difficult to test. Firstly, they’re often installed within walls, ceilings and floors, making them hard to access. There are also a lot of boxes to tick to ensure that your dampers meet all levels of compliance, meaning there can be a number of tests that need to be undertaken. Finally, improper handling of a damper can cause it to become damaged, meaning it needs to be handled and tested with care.
Once we’ve carried out tests on your fire dampers, we’ll document all of our findings, the steps we took, and any information you may need to be aware of before providing you with a written report.
Also known as an operational or functional test, a fire damper drop test involves intentionally triggering the mechanism of the fire damper, observing that it works as planned, and then resetting it. The test will also require preparation beforehand, as well and documentation of the test afterwards.
What Does Fire Damper Testing Entail?
At Coming Clean, we always make sure that every service we provide is carried out thoroughly and meets every one of our client’s needs, which is why our fire damper testing is comprehensive.
Our fire damper testing service is just a part of our maintenance service and is designed to make sure that your fire dampers will work as designed when you need them most. To do this, we’ll start off by visually inspecting each of your fire dampers, looking for any signs of wear and tear.
Next, we’ll carry out a drop test, which involves engaging each fire damper to ensure that it operates as expected. Once we’ve done this, we’ll then reset each fire damper.
If we notice any dampers not working as effectively as they should, we’re able to replace them with new dampers, ensuring that your entire building benefits from fire dampers that you can rely on.