Derbyshire County Council have achieved BM TRADA Q-Mark certification for both fire door manufacture and installation, as part of a major campaign to tighten up fire safety in the county’s schools, care homes and other multi-occupancy buildings.
As Health & Safety Surveyor John Eade explained, when the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO) came into effect on 1st October 2006, it shifted the burden of responsibility for fire safety firmly onto the shoulders of the property owner or building manager. Under the RRFSO, local Fire & Rescue Services no longer provide fire certification for premises, but will now carry out audits to ensure that a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, undertaken by a designated ‘responsible person’, has been carried out and that it is comprehensive, accurate and up to date.
Mr Eade said, ‘Prior to and since the RRFSO came into effect, our Building Surveyors, Contract Services and partners, Faithful & Gould, have been working closely with Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service to undertake surveys of all our properties. This brought to light that many of the fire doors in use had been damaged or did not meet the necessary standards.’
The Council responded immediately and are undertaking a substantial programme of work to repair or replace existing fire doors within its premises. To underpin its commitment to fire safety, it decided to pursue third-party certification for manufacturing and installing fire doors under the BM TRADA Q-Mark scheme.
Mr Eade added, ‘The Q-Mark gives reassurance to Derbyshire County Council that the fire doors in its properties are manufactured and maintained to a consistent high standard and that they are being installed, whether as new or replacement doors, to the correct standards. Above all, the Q-Mark gives reassurance to the people of Derbyshire that we take their safety and welfare very seriously indeed.’
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