University of Reading — 560 fire dampers, term-time delivered.

The brief

The University of Reading remains compliant, safe and operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — a need that intensifies in term-time, when all campuses run at full capacity for 23,000 students. The FM team needed a clear, accurate view of the university’s HVAC infrastructure and defensible assurance of BS 9999 compliance across every building on every campus.

Fire dampers are the frontline of protection against the breakout and spread of fire through ductwork in academic buildings. Assessing and documenting every damper across the estate — in term-time, without disrupting students or business functions — became the anchor of the engagement.

Why Calmbreeze

Calmbreeze was chosen for a reputation that extends beyond testing, mapping and documenting. The team’s familiarity with complex, occupied estates — and a proactive, methodical approach to compliance surveying — matched the university’s ambition to bring HVAC to the forefront of its FM agenda.

Approach

We ran the programme Agile-style: rolling surveys, immediate reporting, remediation and re-test cycles — all synced across a single source of truth.

Findings were reported back, assessed and any faulty dampers repaired inside the same survey window — then re-tested to close the loop.

Outcome

• An accurate, mapped view of the University's HVAC infrastructure and compliance standing
• BS 9999 fire damper compliance assured across all three campuses
• Day-to-day term-time services protected for current and future students
• A baseline for the University's long-term HVAC strategy