Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) Has Detailed A Potential Safety Weakness In A Large Number Of Building Ventilation Systems

The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has detailed a potential safety weakness in a large number of building ventilation systems.

BESA have issued the warning, alongside a revised edition of their technical bulletin VH001 Fire and Smoke Damper Maintenance V3, following the revelation that annual inspections found ‘a huge number of dampers’ had been incorrectly installed.

Building ventilation systems

Graeme Fox, Head of Technical for BESA, said: “We have been alerted to the very dangerous practice of using self-drilling ‘tek’ screws which do not melt when temperatures rise during a building fire. This means spring-loaded dampers will not be released to contain the spread of fire within the zone and ensure the integrity of the fire stopping measure.”

Graeme Fox adds, “Dampers must be secured by fusible fixings that allow the duct to break away otherwise the collapsing duct could pull the damper out of place and break the seal between the fire zones. While this is clearly a very worrying situation, we can take some reassurance from the fact that this problem is being brought to our attention by the increasing frequency of fire damper inspections and tests as awareness grows of this extremely important issue.”

Fusible link dampers

He also noted that many of the dampers found did not comply with manufacturers’ instructions

Graeme Fox continues, “We would urge contractors to alert their clients immediately so all the necessary checks and repairs can be carried out.”

He also noted that many of the dampers found did not comply with manufacturers’ instructions and urged for remedial action to be taken ‘without delay.’

The revised edition of VH001 Fire and Smoke Damper Maintenance V3, with amendments covering the issue, has been released for free on the BESA website. The update provides clarification in the areas of installation/access panels, spring operated fusible link dampers, fire stopping and penetration seals, testing/restricted access, evidence gathering, and examples of closed and opened dampers.

Life-Threatening problem

It also provides more links to additional guidance, including relevant sections of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 for England and Wales and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

The technical bulletin sets out to inform of specific considerations when testing and maintaining fire and smoke dampers, and to give contractors the information and appropriate terminology to alert clients to this potentially life-threatening problem.