KFS manages a range of fire product testing and assessment services (complemented by our independent advisory approach), to provide market confidence and assurance for specifiers, whilst also enabling products to reach the market promptly and efficiently.
Building Regulations require that fire safety provisions, systems and products are performance assured. KFS engineers provide independent and expert opinion in all areas of fire testing and in the assessment of the performance of materials in instances of fire.
KFS remain independent of all product suppliers, installers and manufacturers, so we can guarantee a confidential and impartial service and provide you with trustworthy and objective recommendations.
Fire Test Management
Kiwa Fire Safety Compliance are experts in areas of fire testing. Through our knowledge of relevant standards, we can advise our clients on how to ensure products comply with fire legislation. By combining our fire testing expertise with our fire engineering experience, we can identify innovative new ways for clients to utilise their products.
To maintain our independent status, we do not run our own test laboratories. We can manage the process of testing and assessing the fire performance of products and materials, giving the assurance sought by many of the industry’s leading manufacturers.
This includes reaction and resistance to fire testing of materials and structures; timber fire doors, penetration seals, cavity barriers, load-bearing and non-load-bearing wall systems, glazed screens.
Engineering Assessments
Our experience across a range of passive fire protection systems allow us to develop robust Engineering Assessments and bespoke system solutions, based upon relevant test data so you can satisfy design and site requirements without compromising on materials or safety.
KFS can assist in satisfying architectural design criteria and specific site requirements, by confidently determining the acceptable flexibility, tolerance, and usage variations that construction products have from their originally tested specification.
Fire resisting assemblies are rarely supplied in an identical form to that which was tested. A fire resistance test report will therefore only identify exactly the element that was tested and the subsequent result it achieved, with no variations or opinions expressed within the report.
We can provide opinion and expert judgement of the performance, expressed in the form of a concise engineering assessment, which is supported by numerical and quantifiable methods, as well as experience of conducting fire resistance tests on similar products.
The proposed specification for the building element will invariably require the construction to be supplied at a size, in a mode (such as with glazing apertures, glass, bespoke frames, building hardware) which are different from that tested. If an approving authority does not feel technically able to make a judgement to cover such variations, or does not wish to take responsibility for them, then a 3rd party expert opinion is often sought.
This is precisely when our knowledge and experience will provide confidence, minimise risk and ensure projects are able to continue to time and to specification.
Field of Application Reports
In certain situations, it is necessary to produce a Field of Application (FOA) Report for a product. By bringing together numerous fire-resistant test reports into a single practical document that outlines the variations and permitted parameters, KFS can demonstrate the range of situations in which the product’s fire performance criteria remains valid.
The report provides professional guidance to a manufacturer/fabricator or installer enabling them to produce a ‘compliant’ and ‘fit for purpose’ product/system for the building owner. In supplying an FOA report with a product, manufacturers can reduce the risk of incorrect installation.
In addition to providing confidence in production and installation, our FOA reports will provide clients with a high degree of certainty regarding the range of situations in which their product can be marketed and sold.
Need some help? Contact us
Our experienced team are on hand to assist you with advice on any fire safety issues. With personnel situated across the UK and overseas, we are able to offer local advice wherever you need it. We would be delighted to hear from you.
Please complete our enquiry form, so we can assess your requirements and fast track your request.
