Legally compliant fire curtains are becoming the norm

Great to see another fire curtain manufacturer announce they are now selling legally compliant fire curtains, CE marked to BS EN 16034 🙌 It is good for fire safety and good for the industry, but: what have they been selling for the last 4 ½ years? It has been a legal requirement since 1st Nov 2019. Manufacturers had 3 years (the coexistence period) to get their products updated, from 2016, when BS EN 16034 was recited in OJEU, until 1^st November 2019 Certain manufacturers have been almost silent as to this legal requirement. The same and other manufacturers have continued promoting products that:

• do not provide a route to legal compliance
• do not have valid third-party product certification

To note, the only product standards with valid third-party certification are:

• BS EN 16034 for vertical fire curtains and concertinas
• ISO 21524 for horizontal fire curtains

We know Grenfell didn’t happen because of an unfortunate combination of unforeseeable circumstances “Every death was avoidable”. Richard Millet (KC to the Grenfell Inquiry): “There was nothing unknown or not reasonably knowable which caused or contributed to the fire and its consequences. On the contrary, each and every one of the risks which eventuated at Grenfell Tower on that night were well known by many and ought to have been known by all who had any part to play” And: “Behind all of these discrete factors there lay… an overreliance… on guidance, some of which, including the statutory guidance, was ambiguous, dangerously out of date, and much of which was created by non-governmental bodies and influence by commercial interests” We all need manufacturers to provide correct information, and to run their businesses in line with it, not provide information that suits how they run their businesses. Watch our video on ‘The one reason why CE marking is legally required on all vertical fire curtains here