Leading commercial installer, The Window Company (Contracts) has become an Associate Member of the British Woodworking Federation (BWF), in part so that it can join the ongoing debate surrounding the replacement of fire doors in social housing projects.
David Thornton, Chairman of the award-winning Chelmsford-based business, has joined the BWF’s Fire Door Safety Week 2021 Working Group to give an installer’s perspective on the issue which continues to disrupt the replacement market, nearly four years on from Grenfell.
David explained: “The BWF has already issued some excellent guidance on testing, installation and maintenance of timber fire doors. We have been able to share this with our social housing clients, but we are still facing questions around the products and systems which can be specified and installed, and I’d like to see these more extensively discussed.
“Timber and steel fire doors have obviously already been proven to meet the fire testing requirements of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) but it has taken much longer for the composite doors which make up the bulk of the market in social housing to satisfy those same tests. As a result, we are still some way off being able to restore normal service on the installation and replacement of fire doors, so we think it’s important that we track all the changes which are happening in the market and stay right at the heart of the debate.”
As well as addressing the fire door issue as it relates to timber doors, as members of the BWF, The Window Company (Contracts) will benefit from technical guidance on specifying and installing timber windows and on updates on environmental requirements, new regulations, and training initiatives.
David Thornton added: “We are already big supporters of the GGF which promotes best practice, shapes standards and represents the interests of the double-glazing industry in terms of policy and legislation. As Associate Members, we will certainly be extending that same level of support to the BWF, and particularly to Fire Door Safety Week.”
More details at: www.thewinco.co.uk and https://firedoors.bwf.org.uk/