Why Fire Damper Testing Matters for Facilities Managers

Fire dampers are a necessary part of a commercial building’s fire protection system. But in order to work effectively when needed, fire dampers need to be tested regularly. This ensures that the fire dampers can close properly in the event of a fire.

Fire Damper Testing for Facilities Managers

Commercial buildings are often built with ductwork as part of the HVAC system. But during a fire, the ducts can allow fire and smoke to spread more quickly throughout the building.

Fire dampers are designed to prevent this, but only if they are properly maintained and confirmed to be functional, but if they aren’t working correctly, fire can spread.

Fire damper testing allows facilities managers to spot potential problems before this happens. Fire damper testing can identify common issues like:

• Blocked dampers
• Seized dampers
• Damage
• Corrosion
• Accessibility issues

As well as being important from a safety standpoint, this is also a legal requirement as part of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Your Fire Safety Responsibilities

The facilities manager is responsible for organising testing, arranging access to the site, and keeping accurate and up-to-date maintenance records. You also need to know where the fire dampers are located, which ones have been tested, and which dampers need repairing.

How Often Should Fire Dampers Be Tested?

According to BS:9999, the British Standard that provides a flexible, risk-based code of practice for fire safety in the design, management, and use of buildings, fire dampers must be tested by a competent person immediately after installation and at least annually each following year. In some scenarios, such as in dusty or polluted areas, dampers require more frequent testing.

For more information, read our guide on how often fire and smoke dampers should be tested.

Our Fire Damper Testing Process

Swift Fire Compliance has a skilled and experienced team of professionals who can test fire dampers.

Our testing process includes:

• Locating every fire damper within the building and updating your asset register
• Assessing access to each damper and installing access panels where required
• Inspecting each damper for corrosion, damage, and obstructions
• Carrying out a function test to confirm each damper closes fully and correctly
• Cleaning channels and runners where debris is affecting performance
• Resetting each damper to its operational position
• Recording the result of every test with photographic evidence
• Producing a detailed compliance report made available through our online client portal

Once you have the results, we’ll let you know which (if any) dampers require further attention.

The test reports will help you to prove that you manage the fire safety systems of your building.

To find out more about the process, read our article on what to expect during a fire damper inspection, from locating and accessing dampers to testing and reporting.

Common Compliance Challenges for Facilities Managers

As a facilities manager, you might encounter some challenges that make compliance more difficult. The most common challenges are:

• Misunderstanding of roles and responsibilities
• Poor documentation
• Inconsistent or irregular maintenance schedules
• Failure to understand or follow building regulations

Compliance isn’t an optional extra for facilities managers. If you notice a problem or potential challenges, it’s important to get them resolved as soon as possible.

Fire Damper Remedial Works

If the fire damper doesn’t work or can’t be accessed, facilities managers need to act quickly.

Where testing reveals dampers that have failed, are inaccessible, or have been incorrectly installed, remedial works must be carried out promptly. Leaving a documented failure unaddressed is not a defensible position under fire safety legislation.

Ongoing Compliance and Planned Maintenance

After the dampers have been fixed or made more accessible, the facilities manager should then arrange re-testing and potentially review the maintenance schedule. If your fire dampers are often damaged more than you’d expect, you may need to test them more often.

Find out why using a competent specialist can make fire and smoke damper testing more effective and reliable in our article.

Why Choose Swift Fire Compliance for Fire Damper Testing

When testing fire dampers, you need an experienced and skilled team that understands how to not just test the dampers but also keep reliable and accurate records. This allows you to do your job as a facilities manager much more easily and efficiently, while ensuring the safety of your building.

Swift Fire Compliance is a dedicated specialist in fire damper testing, installation, and remedial works, backed by over 40 years of compliance expertise through our parent company Swiftclean. Our directly employed engineers carry out every aspect of your fire damper programme to the same consistent standard, regardless of building type or complexity.

FAQs Facilities Managers Ask About Fire Damper Testing

How do I know if my building has fire dampers and where they are located?

Fire dampers are installed where ventilation ductwork passes through fire-resistant walls, floors, or partitions. If your building has a ducted HVAC or ventilation system, it is very likely to have fire dampers installed. Many buildings do not have an accurate asset register of damper locations, which is one of the most common compliance gaps we encounter. Swift Fire Compliance can carry out a full survey of your building, locate every damper, and create or update your asset register as part of our testing programme.

What happens if a fire damper fails its function test?

If a damper fails its function test, it must be repaired or replaced as soon as reasonably practicable. A failed damper represents a gap in the building’s fire compartmentation and leaving it unaddressed is not a defensible position under fire safety legislation. Swift Fire Compliance can carry out the remedial works required and re-test the affected damper on completion, providing updated documentation confirming its restored compliance status.

Can facilities managers carry out fire damper testing themselves?

Fire damper testing must be carried out by a competent person with the knowledge, skills, and equipment to locate, access, test, clean, reset, and document each damper correctly. In practice, this requires specialist training and tools that most in-house facilities teams do not have. Attempting to carry out testing without the required competence not only risks producing inadequate records but may also result in dampers being left in an incorrect state following the test.

What documentation should I receive after fire damper testing?

Following a completed testing programme, you should receive a full compliance report detailing the location and unique identifier of every damper tested, the result of each test, photographic evidence, any remedial actions recommended, and engineer details. This documentation should be retained as part of your fire safety records and made available to insurers, HSE officers, and fire authorities on request. At Swift Fire Compliance, all reports are made available through our online client portal immediately on completion.