Fire dampers are the quiet hero of building safety — until they seize. Here's why annual drop testing isn't optional under the RRFSO.
Fire dampers exist to do exactly one thing: close fully and quickly when fire or smoke reaches them, preventing both from spreading through your ventilation system. The trouble is, they spend years sitting open and unused — and that's when they fail.
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and BS 9999, drop testing is a duty for the Responsible Person. In practice that means yearly testing as a minimum, with higher-risk environments (hospitals, schools, multi-occupancy) often moving to six-monthly.
What we find on site Roughly 1 in 5 dampers we test on first visit fails. The most common causes: - Seized linkages from dust and corrosion - Painted-over fusible links - Dampers blocked open by cabling installed after the original commissioning - Missing dampers entirely (yes, really)
What good looks like A proper drop test programme delivers more than a tick-box certificate. It builds you an asset register with grid references, photographic records, and a forward-look maintenance plan that satisfies both your insurer and your fire risk assessor. That's exactly what we delivered to the University of Reading across 77 buildings and 560 dampers.
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