CCS directors Sean Parnaby, David Reay and Andrew Tyas have been manufacturing fire doors for almost 20 years.
Sean said: “As a critical safety feature of any building, it is essential that all fire doors are compliant with British Standards and Building Regulations. But the management and inspection of this vital piece of life-saving equipment is something this country has never really got to grips with. The process is difficult because there is a lack of information on fire doors readily available. Your typical inspection is a paper-based, tick-box exercise with too much room for error and the opportunity for inspectors to take short-cuts.”
The Grenfell tragedy and the subsequent inquiry found issues in the way some high-rise residential buildings are built, managed, and looked after. Among its initial recommendations was the need for a ‘golden thread’ of information for buildings so the original design is preserved, and changes are managed through a formal review process. Equally, that access to up to-date information is critical to effectively carry out a fire risk assessment of a building to determine if any action is needed.
“Grenfell exposed some hard truths about fire door inspections and regulation,” Sean said. “We saw an opportunity to use technology to solve these problems,” Sean said.