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Following our report on the publication of a new draft standard for active fire curtain barrier assemblies, BS8254-1, industry sources have reported instances of sub-standard smoke curtains being sold and installed.
According to the reports, smoke curtains which have not been fully tested to the draft standard, or its predecessor PAS121, are being offered as full fire barriers when they have not been tested against the full range of criteria in the standard.
Geoff Harris, chairman of BSI committee FSH25/1 for fire curtain/barriers, told FSE: “I have seen smoke curtains provided as fire barriers when they have not been tested for impact or for other aspects, such as reliability and durability cycle testing or smoke leakage. The main concern is that where the product is replacing a non-loadbearing wall, it must have full gravity fail safe because we are allowing it to replace a required fire separating element – therefore it must deploy if all power is removed to reinstate compartmentation. It concerns me that some people just think a basic fire resistant test certificate (some don’t even have that) is adequate enough for a life safety product.”
A checklist of what to look out for when specifying active fire curtain barriers is available Local Authority Building Control website to LABC members.