With so many fire doors installed at Centerparcs it is a challenging task to ensure 100% compliance, 100% of the time

Kidde Fire Protection Services is Centerparcs' chosen partner for surveying and maintaining the site's fire door systems.

Fire doors are designed to protect lives and the fabric of the building. They are usually internal doors, unless a fire route requires an external door to be fire rated. Not only must the door meet stringent European standards, but so must any product put onto them including the appropriate door hardware that Kidde Fire Protection Services provides. This includes hinging, closing and locking devices which can be either mechanical access control or cylinder-based.

In cases of fire, smoke is the biggest danger. To protect from smoke inhalation, all the fire doors at Centerparcs are fitted with intumescent products of which there are two main types: one with a neoprene wiping blade and one with a nylon brush. Their purpose is to provide a flexible seal between the lead edges of the door and the frame. At 200 degrees, the exfoliating effect of the intumescent fills all the voids and therefore stops fumes and smoke penetrating through the door from that point on.

With so many fire doors installed at Centerparcs it is a challenging task to ensure 100% compliance, 100% of the time, so Kidde Fire Protection Services has been carrying out cyclical checks every quarter on its fire doors for the past 18 months. Given the number of guests in a 12 week period, essential fire audits are also carried out regularly by the Parc's own Senior Maintenance staff. In the space of 3 months, any amount of things may have happened to a door to breach its fire integrity. For example, its closing speed may have deteriorated, it may not be closing into its stock, the signage may have been removed or the intumescent products may have been damaged. For these reasons, fire safety at all 4 Centerparcs Villages is constantly under review.

Although Kidde Fire Protection Services does specify, supply and install fire doors for new build, the fire doors in Longleat Forest were already in place when they won the maintenance contract. On appointment, the first thing Kidde Fire Protection Services did was to provide an initial survey of the fire doors and an asset register which gave each door a number and location. In that way, when maintenance is required, the door is easy to identify and locate. This system also highlights any repetitive fault with a particular door which may indicate that it needs to be replaced by Kidde personnel. Of course, installation as well as maintenance must comply with the criteria laid down by either the appropriate British or European standard for installation.

Centerparcs creates an atmosphere of total harmony for its guests, so when a door has to be replaced, or the fire doors audited, it must be at a time that will cause the least disruption. Eric Masters, Manager of Kidde Fire Protection Services Door Systems says, "We make sure that we are as unobtrusive as possible. Most of our work is done out of hours, perhaps in the middle of night or the early hours of the morning, to minimise contact with guests. We also pay close attention to Health & Safety requirements, especially when using electrical equipment in the pool area, Aqua Sana and kitchens.

Through Longleat Forest's recommendation, Kidde Fire Protection Services now looks after the fire door maintenance at the Sherwood Forest location and will soon begin work at the other two Villages at Elveden Forest and Oasis Whinfell Forest.

Stephen Hancock concludes, "Kidde Fire Protection Services helps us to ensure that our fire certification is always up-to-date and together we do everything in our power to make sure that the safety of our guests, and of our staff, is guaranteed."