Fire ducts and Dampers

Paul White

Managing Director

Advanced Smoke Group Ltd

The Association for Specialist Fire Protection

Pioneering fire protection through innovation and professionalism

Fire Dampers

Smoke Control Dampers

Fire Resisting Ductwork

Smoke Control Ductwork

January 2014

Paul White

Everyone knows what this is…

DUCTS PENETRATING COMPARTMENT WALLS 3

FIRE DOORS

Most people see one every day

DUCTS PENETRATING COMPARTMENT WALLS 4

STANDARD

DUCTWORK

But look up or go above the false ceiling

And you should find ordinary DW144 steel ductwork for ventilation air which will often pass

through the partition above doors, but will also go through at other points too..

And you should find things that are less well known

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FIRE

DAMPERS

Where normal ventilation ductwork passes through compartment boundaries, the penetration and

compartment must be protected by a fire damper. It is a common misconception that fire dampers protect

ductwork, what they actually do is maintain the compartmentation which is why they must be installed

correctly

An alternative is

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FIRE

RESISTING

DUCTWORK

In some instances fire resisting ductwork may be installed. This is also designed and tested to

maintain compartmentation, and consequently must be constructed and installed correctly at the

compartment wall

Installation

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INSTALLATION

With installations it is often what is not seen that is important and must be got right during installation, support at the wall is critical for both dampers

and ducts, otherwise they might collapse at the wall and lose integrity

Penetration seals only tested with pipes and cables are not proven for use with dampers and ducts, unless they have been tested with dampers and ducts, so duct nand damper manufacturers cannot support this type

of installation unless thay have done specific testing. This situation is often overlooked on site, but may peove an issue if found after the event.

Test information

Fire dampers Fire dampers should be tested to BSEN1366-2.

Escape routes and areas with sleeping risk should be protected with ES

classified motorised fire dampers that respond to smoke alarms

Curtain fire dampers only have an E classification

Dampers tested ad hoc to BS 476 will be acceptable in older installations

but not really in new ones.

The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) now requires that fire

dampers are CE marked and installed in line with manufacturers'

instructions, which is generally as they have been tested.

CE marking is to EN15650 and requires testing to BS EN 1366-2 and third

party certification

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TEST

INFORMATION

Test information

Fire resisting ducts Fire resisting ducts should be tested to BSEN1366-1 or BS476-24.

The latter is still allowed until such products have a standard published

that requires CE marking. The standard is well under way, but it is not

clear exactly when it will be published.

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TEST

INFORMATION

Test information

Smoke control ducts Smoke control ducts should be tested to BSEN1366-8 for fire resistance for

multi compartment installations

Smoke control ducts should be tested to BSEN1366-9 for 600°C

performance (and below) for single compartment installations

CE marking is generally required under the requirements of BS EN12101-7

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TEST

INFORMATION

Test information

Smoke control dampers Smoke control dampers should be tested to BSEN1366-10 for fire

resistance for multi compartment installations and 600°C performance (and

below) for single compartment installations

CE marking is generally required under the requirements of BS EN12101-8

They can be employed in smoke control ducts and in fire resisting ducts

and there are other applications where such dampers are required to be

open on a fire floor to allow smoke to be exhausted and closed in other

areas

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TEST

INFORMATION

Regulatory Guidance

Approved Document B (ADB) – gives guidance to the building regulations

BS9999 – additional guidance referred to in ADB

HTM05-02 – additional information for hospitals

BB100 – additional information for schools and colleges

Regulatory Reform (Fire safety) Order (RRFSO) – requirements for fire safety in the running of buildings requiring information on how all the above are met, where items are installed and how they are to be maintained

Building Regulation 38 – requires that all information with regard to fire protection measures is passed over at handover.

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REGULATORY

REFERENCES

Additional Guidance

ASFP Grey Book – Fire dampers

ASFP Blue Book – Fire Resisting and Smoke Control Ductwork

DW/144 – Sheet metal ductwork

DW/145 – Fire damper installations

HTM05-02 – additional information for hospitals

DUCTS PENETRATING COMPARTMENT WALLS 13

ADDITIONAL

GUIDANCE

REFERENCES

Maintenance

Maintenance regime Does this exist for any fire dampers, fire resisting ducts, smoke control ductwork and smoke control dampers?

Is the responsible person aware of this requirement?

Do adequate records of testing and inspection exist?

Do the records note any and all remedial action to the fire dampers and ducts (etc.) and to the seal between them and the supporting constructions

Refer to Annex V and Annex W of BS9999

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MAINTENANCE

WRONG

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WRONG

-1-

The damper is not in the plane of the wall and the duct is not protected. Has the damper been tested in association with batt? If fire resisting, is the

duct supported around its outside at its joint with the wall

WRONG

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WRONG

-2-

The dampers are not in the plane of the wall, the duct is not protected and it is unlikely that the dampers have been tested passing through a

hole in a steel beam

WRONG

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WRONG

-3-

!

RIGHT

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RIGHT

-1-

The damper is within the plane of the wall, the installation is complete and without any damage to the seal around the damper.

Note: However, it needs to be checked that damper has been tested in a batt installation, especially for ES requirements

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

Fire Dampers

Smoke Control Dampers

Fire Resisting Ductwork

Smoke Control Ductwork

January 2014 Paul White