Fire Door Safety Week (21-27 September) serves as a timely reminder that poor installation and maintenance of fire safety products can have devastating consequences.

Project Specification Group, a unit of ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions UK & Ireland, believes that the drive to reduce cost must not be allowed to compromise the safety performance of a building.

“Unfortunately, we live in an age where there is a constant need to drive down costs and deliver services quicker than ever before. As a result, the building industry as a whole has become disjointed,” says Brian Sofley, Managing Director for ASSA ABLOY Project Specification Group.

“It is well known that compromising on the specification can impact the operational safety of a building, but with no system to ensure compliance, it is too easy to deviate from the recommended specification.

“More education is needed on the cost savings versus the safety impact and overall lifetime consequences of substituting products, but more importantly policies and practices need enforcing which police this and hold everyone accountable within the construction process.”

Fire safety is only properly maintained if standards and checks are carried out throughout the lifecycle of the product and building. This is best addressed through regular inspection, maintenance and the replacement of products.

However, the success of this relies on individuals being well-trained. As a critical component in the overall safety of a building, training should be up to standard and regulated, so skills can be certified and assessed.

ASSA ABLOY Project Specification Group supports architects, developers and contractors at every stage of a project, from design, sustainability and legislation advice to installation and ongoing maintenance.

To help specifiers further, Project Specification Group’s BIM offering – Openings Studio™ – streamlines the specification process for doors and ironmongery, and helps reduce costs throughout the project lifecycle.