BWF Approved Fire Door Centres
Since April 2004, twenty of the Howarth Timber & Building Supplies merchant branches have achieved the British Woodworking Federation (BWF) Approved Fire Door Centre status.
A list of the approved branches can be found below;
Howarth Timber & Building Supplies BWF Approved Fire Door Centres
At Howarth Timber & Building Supplies we take fire regulations seriously which is why the majority of our branches are active members of the BWF Approved Fire Door Centre Initiative. Our staff will have undergone comprehensive training from the British Woodworking Federation, to fully understand fire door applications and the latest regulations relating to them. This helps us to help you avoid the pitfalls in this potentially onerous area of construction.
In addition to training, we also work closely with industry recognised market leading suppliers including Dorma and Lorient. This enables us to offer sound advice for both commercial and domestic door applications and ensure compliance with the new Approved Document B of the Building Regulations.
In the door controls and ironmongery industry, Dorma is justifiably renowned as the market leader, with door closers, locks, fire protection systems and panic hardware that set the benchmark.
The Dorma range has become a byword for the very highest standards of quality, design, innovation and service.
Lorient is an acknowledged leader in sealing systems for door assemblies, embracing fire protection, smoke control, acoustic insulation and weather exclusion.
The company has been established for 25 years, and has a well-deserved reputation for innovation, technical excellence and product quality. Lorient operates under the strict disciplines of BS EN ISO 9001:2000, and where relevant, products are independently accredited by third parties such as CERTIFIRE and the British Board of Agrément.
BWF Approved fire check door casing and lining sets
To ensure that all your single leaf fire door casing and lining applications are in line with the latest regulations and recommendations Howarth Timber & Building Supplies Ltd are now pleased to offer BWF Approved fire door casings and linings. These are manufactured using state of the art milling equipment to meet, and in most cases, exceed the minimum requirements* of most of the UK's major door manufacturers for single leaf door applications.
Howarth Timber & Building Supplies is one of the first major timber merchants to acknowledge the need for this requirement, support the BWF Fire Door Scheme and put this product into volume manufacture.
For all FD30 Fire Doors manufactured by members of the BWF-CERTIFIRE Scheme, fire door casings and linings can be reduced to a minimum width of 70mm without any effect on end performance and whilst still complying with BWF recommendations. If taken below 70mm casings/linings will not meet these recommendations and should not be used.
Third Party Certification
The use of a third party certification scheme (as recommended in Approved Document B of the Building Regulations) is critical to ensure compatibility of all components for fire doorsets.
Fire doors themselves should carry third party test evidence/certification from an Approved Testing Laboratory such as Warrington Fire Research, Chiltern International Fire, British Research Establishment or similar. This certification combined with third party test evidence on the intended hardware and intumescents, will ensure compliance with the UK Building Regulations and UK Construction Products Regulations with correct performance of the fire doorsets in normal every day use and, if the worst should happen - correct performance when it really matters - in a fire!
All the fire doors in the arbordor range have been independently tested to meet these standards and our staff are on hand to advise you of the most suitable hardware for each door in the range.
*List available on application, always check intumescent size requirement before installation.
Please note: Fire doors often exceed 30kg in weight. Always ensure correct lifting and handling techniques are used so as not to cause undue stress, damage or injury to your back.
CE marking of fire closers
Door closing devices, electro magnetic hold open devices and door co-ordinator devices that are fitted to fire doors are required to be safe in use; safe in the case of fire and durable as detailed by the UK Construction Products Regulations.
From 1st October 2004, the simplest and most effective method of demonstrating compliance is through a CE mark. The CE mark demonstrates the product has been, for example, in the case of a door closer, successfully third party tested to BS EN 1154 by an accredited test laboratory and where required, subjected to a fire test to BS EN 1634-1 and manufactured under controlled and inspected production facilities.
Once the product has successfully achieved the CE mark it does not mean for example, that any CE marked door closer can be fitted to any fire door. The CE mark primarily means that the product performs to the required standard in respect of its mechanical performance such as cycle testing, efficiency, size, angle of opening, corrosion resistance, safety in use and the like. Additional criteria must be achieved to confirm its suitability on a fire door.
Fire testing of hardware
Although a fire test must be conducted to achieve a CE mark this test, providing it complies with BS EN 1634-1, can be conducted on any type of door in any configuration. This could mean testing a door closer on a 30 minute latched timber door, with the closer fitted in a standard pull side door mounted application. If the latch is left engaged, the fire test in this instance would only show that the door closer had no adverse effect on the door tested.
Without any other type of evidence, this test would in effect only allow the closer to be used on a 30 minute latched timber doors and for the standard application only. To achieve an effective result the door should be tested either without a latch or with the latch disengaged.
It is therefore critical that evidence of an appropriate fire test is sought in addition to the CE mark to ensure that hardware selected has been tested for its intended application.
- Ashton-Under-Lyne (Manchester)
- Barnsley
- Blackburn
- Burnley
- Bury
- Corby
- Darwen
- Dartford
- Derby
- Dewsbury
- Grimsby
- Leeds
- London
- Malton
- Manchester
- Mansfie
ld - Newcastle-Under-Lyme (Staffordshire)
- Oldham
- Richmond (North Yorkshire)
- Sale
- Scunthorpe
- Thorne
- Wakefield
- York