The BWF Fire Door Alliance produces gap testers to support fire door checks. We developed gap testers to provide a practical way to help check the size of fire door gaps. This means that those responsible for carrying out fire door inspection can easily check that any gaps are not so big that smoke and fire could travel through the cracks.

Of course, gap testers do not replace the need for full fire door inspections by a competent person – they assist this process. To ensure fire doors continue to perform as they should in the event of a fire, we believe checks should be carried out regularly – at least once every six months – and newly occupied buildings may require more frequent checks in the first year of use. Doors where traffic is high, like in communal areas, are likely to be more susceptible to damage and should be checked more frequently than other doors in the building, for example, once per week or month depending on usage.

In October 2019, Sir Martin Moore-Bick made a number of recommendations in conclusion to Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, which he chaired. His aim was for these recommendations to be adopted by owners and managers of all residential buildings, to prevent such a devastating incident from occurring again.

BWF Technical Director, Kevin Underwood, explores the recommendation in further detail in a recently published blog – click here to read in full.