I’m surprised by how often a simple inspection of a client’s site will identify large quantities of smoke and fire dampers that the building manager is unaware of.
I believe this is more than a simple case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ and points to a fundamental failure as an industry to communicate the need to identify, locate and test these devices.
There’s a simple solution to this.
If you’re a building owner and you’re unsure if you have dampers do these three simple things:
- Visit your plant room
- Look for a damper in ductwork passing through the floor or wall
- Does it have an ID or asset number?
If you find a single damper, I guarantee there will be more in your building – these are not devices that work in isolation.
If you cannot see an asset id or tag, chances are your dampers are undocumented and more importantly, untested.
Testing of systems, no matter how important, simply will not happen if the system is not documented and entered into your maintenance schedule. Fire and smoke dampers should be tested annually, as a minimum, so act now.
The assumption for any building owner or operator should be that dampers are present, until an inspection proves otherwise.
My team are here to help you bring your fire and smoke damper compliance up to date, fast.
Call us today or request a quote here.
