Knowledge Centre
In-depth articles on fire door and fire curtain technology, EN certification standards, Approved Document B compliance and application case studies, written for architects, consultants and contractors.
14 July 2026
Approved Document B is the guidance document most UK specifiers reach for first. Here's what it actually is, how it relates to the Building Regulations, and what it says about fire doors and curtains.
Read More7 July 2026
Both are used to demonstrate fire safety compliance in the UK, but they take different approaches. Here's when specifiers reach for BS 9999 instead of — or alongside — Approved Document B.
Read More
30 June 2026
EN 12101-1 is the standard behind every BÖLDT smoke curtain classification. Here's what it covers, how it differs from EN 1634-1, and why smoke control is treated as its own discipline.
Read More
23 June 2026
EN 16034 is the harmonised product standard sitting behind CE marking for fire doors, shutters and curtains. Here's what it covers and why it's always paired with a second standard.
Read More16 June 2026
A CE mark on a fire door or curtain is a legal declaration, not a marketing badge. Here's what it actually certifies, and what specifiers should check behind it.
Read More9 June 2026
Introduced in the wake of Grenfell, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 place new, specific duties on fire door checks in residential buildings. Here's what changed and who it affects.
Read More2 June 2026
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry's findings on flat entrance doors reshaped UK fire door regulation and inspection practice. Here's what the Inquiry found, and what has changed as a result.
Read More28 May 2026
Lift landing doors sit at one of the most consequential compartment lines in a tall building. Here's what Approved Document B and BS 9999 require, and how firefighting shaft provisions raise the bar further.
Read More14 May 2026
Fire doors and fire curtains both create fire-resistant barriers, but they solve different design problems. Here's how to decide which one your opening needs.
Read More30 April 2026
EN 1634-1 is the testing standard behind every BÖLDT fire curtain rating. Here's what it actually measures, and how the E, EW and EI classifications work.
Read More
16 April 2026
Hospitals cannot evacuate the way office buildings do. HTM 05-02 guidance and progressive horizontal evacuation reflect a 'defend in place' strategy — here's what it means for specification.
Read More2 April 2026
A classification report is the two pillars of fire door and fire curtain certification in the UK and Europe. Here's what it actually verifies — and why uncertified products are a real risk.
Read More19 March 2026
Atria create smoke control challenges that conventional compartmentation cannot solve. Here's how fire curtains, BS 9999 guidance and gravity fail-safe deployment work together.
Read More5 March 2026
Wide spans, column-interrupted facades and irregular atrium boundaries defeat standard single-drop curtains. Accordion fire curtains fold to fit — here's how they work.
Read More19 February 2026
An exit pathway needs a fire barrier and a way out — at the same time. Egress fire curtains are engineered to deflect under human contact without losing fire protection.
Read More5 February 2026
Lift shafts are one of the most common routes for vertical fire spread. Here's how Approved Document B and BS 9999 set out when EI 60 and EI 120 rated doors are required.
Read More
22 January 2026
Sprinklers and fire doors are not alternatives to each other — they are two layers of the same strategy. Here's how passive and active systems work together under UK building regulations.
Read More8 January 2026
A fire rating is not a single number — it's a combination of criteria and a duration. Here's how to read ratings like 'EI 120' and match them to the right building element.
Read More18 December 2025
Both can be rated to 120 minutes — the choice between steel and glazed fire doors usually comes down to visibility, daylight, and where the door sits in the building.
Read More4 December 2025
Head box clearance, guide rail alignment, power supply and BMS integration all need to be resolved before ceiling design is finalised. Here's the coordination checklist.
Read More20 November 2025
Smoke causes more fire fatalities than flame. Smoke curtains buy time by containing and directing smoke away from escape routes — here's how classification under EN 12101-1 works.
Read More
6 November 2025
Data centres combine high fire loads, sensitive equipment, and clean agent suppression systems — all of which place specific demands on fire door and compartmentation specification.
Read More23 October 2025
A practical, zone-by-zone checklist covering the fire door and fire curtain requirements a commercial building developer needs to address under Approved Document B and BS 9999.
Read More9 October 2025
A fire door's rating only holds if its self-closing mechanism, seals and hardware remain functional. Here's what an annual fire door inspection should cover.
Read More25 September 2025
Industrial buildings combine high fire loads, large floor plates and basement vehicle parking — each with specific requirements for fire separating walls and curtains under UK guidance.
Read More11 September 2025
The single most important reliability feature of an automatic fire curtain isn't its motor — it's what happens when the motor stops working. Here's how gravity fail-safe deployment functions.
Read More28 August 2025
Guest room corridors carry a self-closing FD30S requirement under UK regulations — lower than many other building types, but with its own specification considerations for hospitality projects.
Read More16 June 2026
German fire door specification runs on a parallel framework to the EN system — Gebäudeklasse building classes under the Musterbauordnung, the legacy T-class notation of DIN 4102, and the MLAR clearance rule for service penetrations. Here's how the pieces fit together.
Read More18 June 2026
Italy's 2015 Fire Prevention Code introduced a risk-profile-based approach to fire safety design, running alongside the legacy REI classification system. Here's what specifiers need to know about both.
Read More20 June 2026
Spain's Código Técnico de la Edificación sets fire safety requirements through its Documento Básico SI. Here's how the compartmentation and door provisions work, and how EN classification fits in.
Read More22 June 2026
France regulates fire door requirements through two parallel frameworks depending on building type — the ERP safety regulations and the Code du travail — plus separate rules for high-rise buildings. Here's how to navigate them.
Read More24 June 2026
Fire doors look ordinary but are engineered to do a specific job: hold back fire and smoke for a set period. Here's what actually makes a door a fire door, in plain terms.
Read More25 June 2026
Fire curtains protect large or irregular openings that a hinged door simply can't. Here's what they are, how they deploy, and where they show up in buildings.
Read More26 June 2026
UK fire safety law puts a specific legal duty on a specific person or organisation for every non-domestic building. Here's who that is, and what it means for fire door compliance in practice.
Read More27 June 2026
A fire door label or plug on a certified doorset is more than a formality — it's evidence of an ongoing, independently audited manufacturing process. Here's what that actually involves.
Read More28 June 2026
Fire doors and fire curtains don't work in isolation — they're one part of a building-wide compartmentation strategy. Here's the underlying principle in plain terms.
Read More29 June 2026
Fire and smoke are different hazards, tested and classified differently, and a door built for one job isn't automatically suited to the other. Here's how the two are distinguished.
Read More30 June 2026
Hinges, closers, locks and letterplates aren't accessories on a fire door — they're tested components of the certified assembly. Swapping one out can void the door's rating.
Read More1 July 2026
A vision panel in a fire door isn't ordinary glass — it's a specific fire-rated glazing product, tested as part of the door assembly. Here's what's actually behind that clear panel.
Read More2 July 2026
Fire doors aren't required everywhere in a building — they're required at specific points determined by the building's compartmentation strategy. Here are the locations that come up again and again.
Read More3 July 2026
A fire door's purchase price is only one part of its lifecycle cost. Here's what specifiers and building owners should factor in from installation through to ongoing maintenance.
Read More6 July 2026
A door schedule is the single document that keeps design intent, fire strategy and procurement in sync across a project. Here's what a fire door schedule needs to capture, and where projects commonly go wrong.
Read More7 July 2026
A self-closing fire door needs a strong enough closer to work reliably in a fire — but too strong a closer makes the door unusable for many disabled users. Here's how the two requirements are reconciled.
Read More8 July 2026
Hotel bedrooms, hospital wards and multi-tenant offices often need doors that meet a sound insulation target as well as a fire rating. Here's how the two requirements combine — and where they can conflict.
Read More9 July 2026
Heritage and listed buildings still need to meet fire safety law, but wholesale replacement of historic doors isn't always possible or desirable. Here's how upgrade and retrofit options are typically approached.
Read More10 July 2026
An automatic fire curtain is only as reliable as its connection to the building's detection and alarm system. Here's what needs to be coordinated between the fire curtain, fire alarm and BMS.
Read More11 July 2026
The Building Safety Act's 'golden thread' concept means fire door product information can no longer disappear once a building is handed over. Here's what that means for specifiers and manufacturers.
Read More12 July 2026
A fire door can be correctly specified, certified and installed and still end up compromised — usually by another trade working nearby without realising the door's fire performance depends on more than the door itself.
Read More