Warringtonfire demonstrates importance of fire door specification at industry event

24 September 2026 – Warringtonfire, part of Element Materials Technology (“Element”), has brought together key stakeholders from across the fire door supply chain, including manufacturers, clients and representatives from regulatory bodies, trade associations and the fire safety sector, to demonstrate how specification and installation can affect fire door performance.

The Fire Doors Explained: Testing, Certification and Performance in Practice event took place at Warringtonfire’s Birchwood facility and included technical presentations, a laboratory tour and a live comparative fire door test.

The tour took delegates through Warringtonfire’s fire resistance testing facilities and presented its recently expanded smoke leakage testing capabilities, with Steve Hankey, General Manager, and technical specialists explaining how fire doors are tested and assessed.

The live test featured two timber doorsets which incorporated variations in their specification and installation, including perimeter gaps, intumescent protection, glazing details, threshold protection and fire stopping. As the test progressed, the doorsets behaved differently under fire conditions.

Peter Barker, Technical Policy Manager at Warringtonfire, said:

“Fire door performance can be influenced by factors including the construction of the door and frame, glazing, seals, hardware and installation.

“The live test demonstrated these principles in practice. The two doors looked similar, but seemingly small variations in their specification and installation resulted in noticeably different behaviour under the same fire conditions.

“To provide confidence to the market that such critical construction details for fire doors are in accordance with the original supporting evidence, and are therefore capable of achieving the required level of performance, third-party certification schemes such as Q-Mark and Certifire, include independent conformity assessment activities, such as periodic inspection of factory production control and audit testing.”

The programme concluded with a session on the changing regulatory and certification landscape, including the withdrawal of the BS 476 series from Approved Document B in England for fire resistance applications in September 2029.

The session also covered the transition to EN 13501-2 classification and the role of third-party certification in providing ongoing assurance.

Warringtonfire’s Birchwood facility opened in January 2025 and provides fire resistance testing, technical assessment, extended application and classification services for fire doors and other construction products.