The Reliability of Fire Dampers, Smoke Dampers and Smoke Control Systems report by James Milke and Robert Ayoub of the Department of Fire Protection Engineering in University of Maryland which published in July 2021 provides interesting reading.
The international fire code which is adopted in 42 of the 50 states in the United States of America includes the following
“NFPA 80: fire dampers should be inspected one year after installation, every four years thereafter, except hospitals which have a six year inspection frequency.”
NFPA 105 relates to smoke dampers and mirrors NFPA 80.
Before I come onto some interesting findings from their report, I think it’s worthwhile noting that these fire codes seem utterly bizarre when inspections are only every 4 to 6 years with the latter frequency for hospitals!
Perhaps with this frequency of testing it comes as no surprise that the survey of 39 companies who undertook testing found in over 151,000 damper inspections in existing buildings, over 80,000 dampers required repair and 3,653 required replacement and 20,550 needing better damper access such as doors or other means.
If you’re curious about the full breakdown of the study findings you can read the report here.
Their summary findings said that the results of the survey indicated that inspections of fire life safety dampers and smoke control systems are identifying a substantial number of issues concerning these components or systems. This of course begs the question why a code of practice or standard such as NFPA 80 and 105 recommend such infrequent testing.
My specialist damper inspection and testing team confirm to me on a too-regular basis that we are suffering with the same issues in the UK. I have discussed in previous posts, articles and webinars the danger posed by carrying out risk-based assessments for damper testing frequency. You can read more about damper testing frequency and methodology here.
I’m keen to hear from others, both in the industry and end-users of damper testing services. What is your experience of setting damper testing programmes in your/your client’s buildings?
Direct message me through LinkedIn.
