Code Compliant Fire and Smoke Damper Inspection, Repairs and Installation
Fire and smoke dampers play an important part of your building’s Life Safety system and failure to operate when called upon is never an option because property and lives depend on them working flawlessly.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) as well as other regulatory agencies, such as the International Code Council (ICC), The Joint Commission, State Fire Marshals, and Insurance Risk Auditors requires the periodic inspection of passive fire protection systems.
Air Masters can help you meet these compliance standards in accordance with NFPA 101, NFPA 80 and NFPA 105 by inspecting all mechanical, electrical and pneumatic fire and combination fire-smoke dampers throughout your facility and providing you with the necessary documentation for your reporting and record needs.
Fire Dampers must be inspected within one-year of installation. The frequency thereafter is required to be every 4 years, except in hospitals where inspections are required every 6 years according to the NFPA.
Care is taken for each damper inspected to protect the surroundings from dust and dirt. Drop cloths are placed over furnishings where dampers are located in populated areas. Inspections include cleaning the damper with our HEPA filtered vacuum and cycling all dampers to ensure that they function properly. Additional care is taken in hospitals by implementing infection control and safety procedures to protect patients and healthcare workers while working within your facility’s Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) guidelines.
As part of this inspection we provide you with a detailed report including:
1. Map the locations of all dampers on your building floor plan for ease of identification, service and access when needed. If existing building mechanical plans are available we will verify and amend them to match the facilities current damper locations.
2. Label each damper with a unique identification number. If the dampers are already labeled on mechanical plans we will reference those numbers in the report and amend your plans to indicate any dampers that may be missing.
3. Place a sticker on the damper’s inspection door that shows the date of the inspection, result of the inspection (pass or fail) with the name of the technician who tested it.
4. Record this information for all dampers inspected and generate a report for the owner’s due diligence compliance.
5. According to NFPA 80, “If the damper is not operable, repair shall begin without delay.” Minor repairs will be made at the time of the inspection and they will be documented in the report. These small repairs include such things as removing screws binding the damper or wires holding them open and the replacement of failed fusible links.
6. Provide a photo of all dampers needing repair “before” and “after” for your records.
7. All documentation will be provided to the owner in both hard copy and PDF format.
Air Masters Fire Damper Inspections include:
Locate and inspect all fire dampers and fire/ smoke dampers in the facility to verify the following:
1. Full unobstructed access to the fire damper or combination fire/smoke damper shall be tested and corrected as required.
2. Each damper assembly is HEPA vacuumed before it is tested to keep dust and dirt from becoming dislodged into the air stream.
3. Removed the fusible link of fire dampers that are equipped with them to ensure full close and lock in-place.
4. Exercise the damper to ensure that it freely and fully closes and reopens.
5. Operate the damper to verify that there is no interference due to corrosion, rust, physical damage, misalignment, or damaged or distorted frames or blades, and check for defective hinges or other moving parts.
6. Inspect the damper to assure that it is free of any obstructions and items that might be running through it that would affect the fire damper operation.
7. All fusible links are reinstalled after inspection. Damaged, corroded, or painted links will be replaced with ones of the same size, temperature and damper load rating as part of this inspection.
