Balancing the requirements for disabled access with the provision of effective barriers against smoke and fire can be very difficult.

Building designers and specifier’s clearly need to avoid creating access difficulties for disabled people and yet they must also take all steps possible to provide effective barriers against smoke and fire - safety for all is paramount.

But now, Leaderflush Shapland, the UK’s largest bespoke performance door and doorset manufacturer, has developed a unique doorset solution which will satisfy the Equality Act (previously known as the DDA) opening force requirements, whilst still complying with fire and smoke control regulations.

Approved Document B, Appendix B – Fire Safety - says that fire doors should be fitted with a self-closing device - a device which is capable of closing the door from any angle and against any latch fitted to the door. Approved document B also requires many doors to be sealed on at least the top and vertical edges to meet smoke control requirements.

However, it can be extremely difficult for wheelchair users, and for people with assistance dogs, low upper body strength or walking aids to manoeuvre through a door-opening against the force exerted by the closing device and any extra resistance exerted by seals and air pressure differentials.

Using special geometrics, Leaderflush Shapland has developed a complete engineered doorset solution which is a combination of elements specially designed to work together to meet the legislation - doorleaf, frame, seals, hinges, handle, lock, closer and all other ironmongery.

No other doorset manufacturer can make this claim with third party test evidence.

Fitzpatrick has manufactured metal doors and doorsets for the commercial and industrial building sectors since the 1940s. Unrivalled aesthetics and performance are the hallmarks of these doorsets which provide a highly adaptable solution for internal or external applications in specialist sectors such as health and education.

Fitzpatrick offers a number of product ranges each delivering different performance characteristics as well as a steel frame option, all of which are available either primed for on-site painting, or powder coated to any BS or RAL colour.
Firecel doorsets have been specifically designed to meet the requirements for prolonged fire resistance for periods of up to 240 minutes; Soundcel doorsets have been developed using mineral wool or honeycomb cores to meet specific acoustic performance requirements; Securicel doorsets offer protection against various levels of attack from petty burglars using small tools, up to attempted, forced entry with high powered machinery; and Framecel metal door frames are manufactured to BS1245 and can be manufactured in stainless or mild steel.

Fitzpatrick doorsets meet the full requirements of both PAS 23 and PAS 24 as tested by BSI and the Securicel range has been awarded the Secured by Design accreditation. Firecel doorsets are Certifire accredited as part of independent third party testing and have been successfully subjected to BS 476: Part 22: 1987 fire testing allowing Fitzpatrick to certificate 60, 90, 120 and 240 minute assemblies.

A honeycomb core construction can provide fire protection for up to 240 minutes and a mineral wool core can give up to 120 minutes protection yet with higher acoustic performance (up to 35 RwdB sound reduction). Core construction is determined by performance of doorset specified.

Many recent projects have benefited from the performance characteristics and visual appeal of Fitzpatrick doorsets: the Voyager School, the Jack Hunt School and the Ken Stimpson Community School in the Peterborough BSF Programme; Unity College within the Lancashire BSF Programme; and Broadway, Holte, Mayfield and Lozells Schools and Stockland Green College in the Birmingham BSF Programme. All doorsets were custom made to an enhanced version of the Fitzpatrick Securicel doorset in a polyester powder coat finish and some doorsets in sports hall and gym areas were provided complete with rebound boards designed to meet Sport England guidelines.

As part of Leaderflush Shapland, the UK’s leading performance doorset manufacturer, Fitzpatrick can draw on a wide range of expertise including a wealth of knowledge and experience in the health and education sectors.

CE marking is a mandatory conformance mark on many products placed on the single market in the European Economic Area (EEA) - CE stands for conformité européenne, French for "European conformity". The CE marking certifies that a product has met EU consumer safety, health or environmental requirements and, by affixing this mark to a product, the manufacturer – on his sole responsibility – declares that it meets these standards.

At present, CE marking in the UK is voluntary and expectation is by 2013, CE marking of all relevant construction products will become compulsory in all EU member states and will include doorsets.

With the benefits of CE marked doorsets clearly apparent they are fully expected to become the default requirement for major projects such as schools, hospitals and other public buildings and that CE marked doorsets will be the preferred specification for general applications as they offer many advantages compared with door assemblies created on site from separately sourced components. These door assemblies cannot be CE marked and, even with a door assembly comprising components previously forming part of a CE marked doorset, they may not be compatible, therefore it cannot be assumed that this is in any way equivalent to obtaining a CE marked doorset from a single source.

Leaderflush Shapland, the UK’s leading performance doorset manufacturer, sees CE marking as a positive step and is working in conjunction with the Door and Hardware Federation (DHF) to promote the benefits to architects, specifiers, designers, contractors and end-users.

Ray Anning, Leaderflush Shapland’s Head of Technical and NPD explained why the company is giving its full support to the new standard, “CE marking will mean that one manufacturer alone is responsible and accountable for the performance and certification of the entire doorset and ironmongery assembly and that compatibility of all the components is assured.

“It also considerably improves on-site logistics leading to faster and more accurate installation and reducing potential health and safety issues with site work and assembly.”

Leaderflush Shapland has been a long-time advocate of the doorset as a fully finished, engineered element comprising frame, pre-hung door leaf (with any vision panels) and essential ironmongery, all matched and pre-assembled in the factory and delivered to site as a package for reassembly and simple installation. Their doorsets are designed as complete, engineered units to meet specific performance requirements and manufactured to exacting standards from established components under factory conditions.

The importance of doorsets is also acknowledged in many common guidance documents including HTM 58 ‘Internal doorsets’, SSLD 7 ‘Internal doorsets in schools’ and by BS 8214: 1990 'Code of practice for fire door assemblies with non-metallic leaves': "It is strongly recommended that pre-hung, pre-finished, fire doors (i.e. doorsets) are specified whenever possible as this reduces the amount of site work necessary and allows normal factory quality control procedures to be applied to the finishing operations."

BS 8214 calls for testing of complete fire door assemblies or doorsets, fully representative of all aspects of how they will be used on site. For door assemblies, this is far more problematic with potential for combinations of mismatched, uncertified components and potential for poor site practices. In addition to fire resistance, other performance criteria can be achieved and maintained more easily with doorsets, including smoke containment, sound reduction and durability.