Client: NHS Trust
Type of works: Manufacture & Installation of Fire Doors
Ahmarra have manufactured and installed Q-Mark certified fire doors, selected from our Healthcare Door Range, for an NHS hospital’s new Endoscopy Unit.
Previously home to corporate teams, the main contractor transformed the ground floor of the hospital’s building into a new Endoscopy Unit to accommodate the growing demand for day-patient diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Serving over 15,000 patients annually, the Endoscopy department will benefit from the addition of new treatment rooms and recovery areas, significantly increasing capacity and reducing patient wait times.
Certified Fire Doors
The main contractor selected Ahmarra to manufacture and install third-party certified fire doorsets under the BM TRADA Q-Mark Fire Door schemes, a continuation of their successful partnership on previous healthcare projects.
Enhanced Fire & Smoke Ratings
Given the nature of the hospital environment, where many users are vulnerable or incapacitated and valuable medical equipment is housed, the Trust opted for doors with an enhanced fire and smoke rating of FD60s. This ensures a minimum of 60 minutes of fire and smoke resistance, providing critical time for staff to assist in the safe evacuation of patients, and giving firefighters the necessary window to protect wards and equipment in the event of a fire.
Infection Control
These encapsulated doorsets feature PVC-u facings, edges, glazing beads, and frames, ensuring they are hygienic, durable and easy to maintain. The PVC-u material is infused with Hygienilac®, an anti-bacterial compound integrated throughout the material during manufacture, rather than just as a surface coating. This biocide effectively eliminates 99.9% of bacteria, helping to prevent the spread of infections such as C-difficile, MRSA, Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli.
Accessibility
For the door facings, the client selected durable, textured PVC-u in Snow White (RAL 9001). The British Standards’ code of practice (BS 8300-2:2018) states that in order to meet the accessibility needs of those that are visually impaired, there must be a Light Reflectance Value (LRV) contrast of at least 30 points between building surfaces and their surrounding areas. Therefore, the door frames are in a visually contrasting Steel Grey (RAL 7038), as are the protection plates. As an additional safety feature, the Snow White edge protectors feature a strip of the Steel Grey to provide contrast on the leading door edge that building users come in contact with when opening it.
Durable Pre-hung Doorsets
All doorsets feature kick plates, and those installed in communal areas also feature mid-rail protection plates. This additional protection makes these severe-duty doorsets more resilient to the heavy footfall of a busy hospital environment, and resistant to impacts from hospital beds and porter trolleys that frequently move between wards. Supplied with all the essential hardware components, these pre-hung fire doorsets are covered by a single fire certificate, ensuring full compliance with Building Regulations.
Q-Mark Fire Door Installation
The doors were fitted by our experienced Q-Mark Fire Door Installation team. All of our installers are Constructionline Gold, CHAS (Contractors’ Health And Safety) scheme and SafeContractor accredited, ensuring a safe environment and mitigating supply chain risk.
Fire doors in healthcare settings must meet a variety of stringent requirements. These include certified fire & smoke protection, acoustic performance, enhanced durability, infection control, compatible ironmongery, accessibility features, and in some cases, wayfinding elements integrated through the colour of the door facings.
Our healthcare door range can be tailored to meet the unique needs of your project. To learn more about the range, click here.
