First and foremost, your home is legally required to comply with stringent fire regulations, designed to help protect you and your family from the deadly effects of fire and smoke. The legislation is enforced by a Building Control Body, whereby meeting these regulations will determine whether your extension, renovations or new building project meets Building Control Approvement.
When buying a fire curtain, it is important to consider whether the product you’ve purchased carries the correct certification. If not, then it’s very likely that the fire curtain hasn’t been tested to the correct standards; therefore putting both your home and its occupants at risk, incapable of protecting you in the event of a fire. Furthermore, if the fire curtain does not meet the correct standards, your construction project will fail to meet building control approval.
IFC Certification Ltd is a UKAS accredited and internationally recognised provider of high quality and customer focused third party certification. Third Party Certified by the IFC for our range of Active Fire Curtain Barrier Assembly products, as well as an Installer of Passive Fire Protection, Coopers Fire can provide you with fire safety products, guaranteed to carry the correct certification and meet the correct legislative standards.
It should also be noted that it is important for you to seek professional advice from your appointed Approved Building Control Authority, before you contact a fire curtain supplier. For advice on your project, this will quickly help you to establish the correct specification of the type of fire curtain you require, and it is the first step to guaranteeing that your project meets fire regulations. Once you have a specification, then it is time to contact a reputable supplier for a quotation.
Another factor to consider when buying fire curtains is Total Gravity Fail Safe, or TGFS; this is a backup system which is designed to ensure that your fire curtain deploys to a closed position, even if your property suffers a power failure or mains short circuit. For a fire curtain to be compliant with stringent fire regulations, TGFS must be fitted, as it is key to ensure that your fire curtain meets Building Authority approval.
After your fire curtain has been installed, much like a gas safety certificate, the organisation which is responsible for commissioning you is required to issue you with the correct certification. This commissioning certificate is to certify that your fire curtain has met the stipulated standards, has been installed by a third party approved installer, and operates to fire regulations. It is this documentation that Building Control Authorities and insurers commonly ask for for proof of regulatory compliance.
