In the same building as the hardware experts at UAP, a unique fire door testing and training site is set to raise our industry’s standards. Our editor spoke to Nicola John, director of Fire Door Maintenance (FDM by UAP), who is heading up the new venture, to find out more.
What led you to launch FDM?
“I realised that there’s a gap in the market for a company that has expertise in fire doors only,” said Nicola. “So we are helping housing leaders look at their stock and decide how to go about improving it.”
In what ways does FDM help with compliance?
“Our staff assess fire doors, and work with landlords to provide solutions,” continued Nicola. “We’ve partnered with a company called CCS, which provides fireproof pins that go inside the door, either at manufacture or during a retrofitting process.
“Test data is loaded onto this pin, and then the client can see all of their doors on a dashboard, and where any issues or problems are. We offer a range of different options for how they can address problems. And the data is all kept in the cloud.
“We also offer inspections. If the door is 15 years old but we know we’d be able to trace the manufacturer, we will contact the manufacturer for the client, and get the test evidence from that time.
“We check when the door that was produced, and the components that should be on it, and then we match that to the door, to make sure that when we’re only swapping out the items that will make the door compliant.
“We are offering something bespoke and different: we asset check; we do annual inspections, and we will maintain doors to the correct standard. We serve all markets, and anywhere that needs a fire door. We’ve got engineers waiting to do that work.”
How does the fire door training centre fit in?
“Here at FDM, we recognise that we need a lot of inspectors in order to be effective,” she added. “And we need to have control over that training, hence us building a training centre.”
This is a shortened version of an interview from Glass and Glazing Products (GGP) Magazine. To read the full version, in the August 2023 edition of GGP, click here.
