Relevance of fire damper maintenance
Fire dampers, like doors and gates, belong to the group of fire protection closures. Fire dampers are always installed where ventilation systems pass through walls and ceilings bounding fire compartments. In the event of a fire, the dampers automatically close the ventilation duct. They thus prevent fire and smoke from spreading via ventilation or air conditioning. This serves to protect and ensure the safety of both people and buildings.
Regular fire damper maintenance
Fire dampers must be checked regularly for proper functioning. The maintenance of fire dampers results from the state building regulations and occupational health and safety. The when and how of maintenance, including fire damper maintenance, is derived from various standards such as DIN EN 13306, DIN 31051, DIN EN 12599 and DIN EN 15423. In addition, the testing regulations (PrüfVO) of the federal states must be observed for the testing of fire dampers.
According to the regulations, the fire dampers must be inspected for proper functioning in the course of commissioning the ventilation system. Thereafter, fire dampers must be inspected at least every six months. If there are no defects in two consecutive fire damper inspections, the fire dampers are usually inspected only once a year. In addition to these legal requirements, the manufacturer's specifications and the situation in the plant must be observed (VDMA 24000).
More frequent fire damper maintenance possible
More frequent inspection and maintenance of the fire dampers may be required if, for example, the fire dampers are located in dusty places. This is the only way to ensure the effectiveness of the fire dampers in special environments. The recurring functional test is primarily the duty of operators or owners of the ventilation system. However, employers are also responsible for the maintenance of fire dampers through occupational health and safety.
Employers can delegate this task to a competent service provider such as CWS Fire Safety. The CWS experts are certified for the systems of the well-known manufacturers. They not only take expert care of your fire dampers, but also remind you of the dates for the next fire damper maintenance.
Fire damper maintenance in detail
Seven important steps for safety.
The maintenance requirements of fire dampers depend on their design. A distinction is made between maintenance-free fire dampers and those with maintenance requirements. The required maintenance work for fire dampers with maintenance requirements can be found in the approval documents. As a rule, fire damper maintenance includes the following steps:
- Checking and changing the seals
- Removal of dirt and corrosion damage (inside and outside)
- Relubrication of bearings
- Manual control of the mechanical closing mechanism
- Replacement of the fusible link (if necessary)
- Checking the actuating, control and signaling elements of fire dampers with electric closing function
- Checking the actuating elements of fire dampers with pneumatic closing function
- Verification of the measures by means of a function test
The maintenance of fire dampers is subject to the same intervals as the functional inspection. CWS customer service documents the work for you in the maintenance book or in the maintenance log for fire dampers. We can keep a digital record of both on request. In addition, we attach a maintenance certificate to the fire dampers in accordance with regulations, which provides information about the specialist company performing the work and the date of the next inspection.
Maintenance-free fire damper
However, the inspection of fire dampers remains necessary!
For maintenance-free fire dampers, opening and closing must be tested once a month and recorded in a log. Fire dampers are considered to be maintenance-free if
- they are not triggered via fusible link but thermoelectrically
- they can be checked for effectiveness by remote control
- and their moving parts are encapsulated.
Fire dampers installed before 1974 are a special case. The building inspectorate approvals usually lack information on fire damper maintenance. The basic rule for these old fire dampers is that they must be inspected once a year. The operator of the ventilation system receives a certificate that must be kept.
Fire dampers can save lives.
Their regular inspection and maintenance requires expertise, experience and reliability. CWS Fire Safety customer service helps to ensure that the fire dampers in your plant function correctly at all times and that everyone can feel safer. Contact our technical experts and let them advise you!
