Fire dampers · testing & maintenance

The part of your fire strategy hidden above the ceiling

Fire and smoke dampers sit inside your ductwork, out of sight, doing nothing at all until the day they have to close. We find them, test them, repair them and give you the report.

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AnnuallyDrop test interval for most dampers

BS EN 15650The product standard they are built to

Asset registerEvery damper located and numbered

Written reportPass, fail and remedial actions

What a fire damper actually does

Ductwork runs through the walls and floors that are supposed to hold a fire in one place. Every time it passes through one of those barriers, it punches a hole in the compartment — and smoke and flame will travel down a duct very happily.

A fire damper closes that hole. It sits in the duct at the barrier and shuts automatically when it senses heat, or when the alarm tells it to, restoring the integrity of the wall or floor it passes through.

The catch is that a damper can sit there for years doing nothing, quietly seizing up, painted over, obstructed by later works or disconnected by whoever was last in the ceiling void. It will look completely fine right up until it fails to close.

What we do

Locate and register — every damper found, numbered and recorded
Drop test — each one released and proven to close fully
Clean and free off — debris cleared, linkages freed and lubricated
Repair or replace — fusible links, actuators and seized units
Access panels — installed where a damper cannot currently be reached
Report — written results with photographs and remedial actions

How often, and who has to do it

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 the Responsible Person must keep fire safety equipment in effective working order. Dampers are part of that.

Annual testingMost premises test every damper annually. A newly installed system should be tested within its first year to prove it was commissioned correctly.

More often in critical areasWhere a failure would be serious — healthcare, high-rise residential, escape routes — a shorter interval is normal and your fire risk assessment may require it.

Recorded, not rememberedResults go in your fire safety log book. That record is what an insurer or enforcing authority asks for, and it is the part most sites are missing.

Access is the usual problemIf a damper cannot be reached it cannot be tested. We fit compliant access panels so next year’s test is straightforward rather than a rebuild.

What we usually find

No access panel

The damper is there, sealed behind plasterboard with no way to reach it. Nothing has ever been tested.

Seized linkages

Years of dust and no movement. The blade will not drop, so the barrier stays open in a fire.

Obstructed by later works

Cable trays, pipework or insulation installed straight through the path the damper needs to close into.

No register at all

Nobody knows how many dampers the building has, so nobody can say whether they work.