Ask the Expert – Allegion

January 23, 2025

Adam D’Arcy-Wass, Export Development Manager at Allegion UK reviews the fire door safety landscape with International Fire Buyer Magazine

Allegion UK specialises in mechanical hardware solutions, supplying global markets with high quality door closers, exit devices, locks and door furniture. With over 100 years of industry knowledge and understanding, Allegion is backed by a worldwide team of experts and a family of reputable brands, offering support to customers in residential, commercial, healthcare and education environments. International Fire Buyer recently caught up with Adam D’Arcy-Wass, an expert in architectural ironmongery at Briton, to discuss Allegion’s latest fire door safety awareness campaign and what’s ahead for the group in 2025.

Could you explain the key objectives behind Allegion’s Responsible Persons campaign?

Fire door safety plays a significant role in protecting people and property. Though, we’ve found there to be continued discourse concerning accountability, competence and collaboration amongst stakeholders. Allegion UK has a trusted reputation for helping to keep people safe and secure where they live, learn, work and connect, and our latest campaign aims to bridge the gap between fire door safety awareness and expertise. By offering trusted and accessible guidance, we intend to equip responsible persons, duty holders and trade professionals with the foundations and frameworks needed for planning, delivering and maintaining effective fire door safety strategies.

How does the new Fire Door Hardware Guide contribute to improving fire safety standards for responsible persons?

As part of our campaign, we launched a comprehensive ‘Fire Door Hardware Fundamentals’ guide in September 2024. Our aim was to deliver an invaluable resource to customers and following an in-depth roundtable session with our Briton experts earlier in the year, we felt it was important to focus on the relationship between fire door safety and the latest fire safety regulations.

Since its introduction in October 2023, Phase 3 of the fire safety reform programme has further strengthened fire safety in all FSO regulated premises and looks to eliminate any ambiguity associated with building compliance. In all settings, greater emphasis is being placed on accountability and coordination, and as such, it’s critical for parties to review and understand their responsibilities under the latest legislation. Fire doors are a key element of a building’s passive fire protection system, and our fundamentals guide provides clear and concise guidance on fire door hardware to ensure the necessary steps are being followed to reduce the risk of fire.

What do you believe are the most common challenges that responsible persons face when it comes to fire door safety compliance?

Our experience shows us that fire door safety is often compromised in three areas – incorrect fire door hardware specification, poor installation and a lack of maintenance. Certified fire doors are tested with – and are therefore reliant on – several components, including hinges, locks, latches and door closers. Decision makers should be able to recognise the significance of door hardware when reviewing the condition of their fire doors, before being confident enough to correctly rectify issues when presented with them – whether that be at the product selection stage, throughout the installation of the product, or during the risk assessment duties of responsible persons.

Can you highlight the key features of the guide and how it aligns with current fire safety regulations?

The latest round of regulatory updates have been put in place to improve fire safety standards across the board and our ‘Fire Door Hardware Fundamentals’ guide provides instant access to user-friendly regulatory guidance and the roles and responsibilities linked to them. Our Briton experts have carefully constructed the themes and information presented throughout, with each section designed to raise the confidence of responsible persons and trade professionals when performing their roles.

Within, readers will find a handy combination of valuable insight and practical advice, from legislation breakdowns and useful terminology guides to trusted advice on fire door hardware specification, installation and maintenance. Our tools and know-how are presented in a digestible format, with features including specification and maintenance checklists, door size charts and fixing applications guides, as well as compliance classifications and even QR code access to our latest product installation tutorials.

To read more exclusive articles and latest news, see our last issue here.