Fire safety is paramount for any business, and at the heart of robust fire protection are fire-rated doors. These crucial assets act as barriers to slow the spread of fire and smoke, providing vital time for evacuation and response. But simply installing them isn’t enough; effective management throughout their lifecycle is key to ensuring they perform when needed most.
Understanding Fire Doors as Critical Assets
Fire doors are more than just doors; they are highly engineered safety components. They are certified for specific durations of fire protection, often up to four hours, covering requirements like FD30, FD60, FD120, FD180, and FD240. This means they are tested to withstand fire for 30, 60, 120, 180, or 240 minutes respectively. They are ideal for commercial and industrial premises, and can even be used as connecting doors within a property, such as from a garage to a home.
To be compliant with UK fire safety regulations, these doors must be fully certified. They are also tested to standards like EN 1634-1:2018 and often come with pre-fitted door closers, and options for vision or louvre panels. Given their critical role and the stringent regulations surrounding them, actively managing their condition and compliance is non-negotiable.
The Challenge of Traditional Fire Door Management
Imagine trying to keep track of every fire door in a large facility using paper logbooks or spreadsheets. Each door has a unique specification, installation date, a history of inspections, maintenance, and any reported defects. Manual processes are prone to errors, can lead to lost paperwork, and make it incredibly difficult to access critical data quickly. This inefficiency can result in missed inspections, non-compliance, and ultimately, compromised safety. Organisations can find themselves wasting hours on manual processes.
Transforming Fire Door Management with BORIS Software
This is where a robust digital asset management system like BORIS Software becomes a game-changer. BORIS is designed to help you identify, locate, store, and manage your business assets throughout their life expectancy, whatever your assets may be. For fire doors and other fire safety equipment, BORIS offers a comprehensive solution:
• Digitise Your Fire Doors: Any fire door can be transformed into a digital asset by applying barcodes, QR codes, or NFC pins/tags, which can then be scanned by the BORIS app. This immediately creates a digital record for each individual door.
• Comprehensive Asset Register: With BORIS, you can create a centralised asset register for all your fire doors and related fire safety equipment. For each door, you can record its unique reference ID, full product specification, and monitor its entire service history. This ensures that critical data relating to your assets is readily available and stored in one place.
• Bespoke Data Capture: BORIS allows you to create bespoke app templates to capture all the information you need. This can include the door’s specification, its precise location, cyclical service history, detailed inspection reports, and a record of any associated defect management. You can input data using free text, drop-down options, or check boxes, and even capture photos for visual documentation.
• Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM): BORIS digital asset management enables you to implement Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) for your fire doors. The system can auto-schedule regular inspections, create notifications when inspections are due, and allocate them to the relevant team member. This proactive approach ensures no inspection is missed, maintaining ongoing compliance and safety.
• Streamlined Inspections and Reporting: During inspections, field workers can use the BORIS app to record data in real-time. The system supports signature sign-off and captures vital information instantly. Afterwards, you can generate bespoke report templates for single items or bulk outputs, providing detailed reports of the inspection findings for your review. These reports can be exported to Word, Excel, or PDF formats.
• Enhanced Compliance and Efficiency: BORIS includes compliance tracking and reporting tools to ensure your business meets industry regulations. The system’s ability to automate scheduling, job tracking, and report generation significantly streamlines operations and eliminates manual processes. This efficiency can save over 10 hours a week and reduce costs by over 20%. For example, Bradford Royal Infirmary NHS reported saving time on fire risk assessments, reducing a 5-day task to just 1 day with the BORIS system.
• Accessibility and Usability: BORIS is accessible on iOS, Android, and web browsers, providing seamless use anytime, anywhere. It’s designed for every role in business operations, including Asset Coordinators.
By digitising and centralising the management of your fire doors and other fire safety assets, BORIS helps you take control and manage your business effortlessly. No more paperwork, no delays, no hassle—just seamless operations.
Take Control of Your Fire Safety Assets
Implementing a digital asset management system like BORIS for your fire doors is not just about compliance; it’s about enhancing safety, boosting efficiency, and gaining complete visibility over your critical assets.
Ready to see BORIS in action and transform your fire door management? You can book a free demo today to explore how BORIS can simplify every step, from tracking assets to ensuring compliance.
