British Woodworking Federation (BWF) members have asked for a more rigorous audit testing regime for the Fire Door & Doorset Scheme.

This will include random checks on doors from regular stockists or distributors rather than those supplied direct to the test house by the manufacturer.

The move follows members’ comments on a proposal drawn up by CERTIFIRE – the BWF’s partner in the scheme – in response to a recent strategic review.

The three main principles of the new audit procedures are greater independence from manufacturers, random procedures and testing of like-for-like products.

BWF director Richard Lambert described the move as a significant step forward. He added: “We constantly scrutinise our procedures, both within the federation as a whole and within the quality schemes that we operate.

&#8220As the fire door scheme has expanded it has inevitably brought into the spotlight those areas where we can implement improvements that will build upon its credibility amongst specifiers ”

BWF director Richard Lambert

“As the scheme has expanded it has inevitably brought into the spotlight those areas where we can implement improvements that will build upon its credibility amongst specifiers.”

Mr Lambert said the new initiative came from members and their wish to belong to a scheme with the highest standards possible.

Another innovation within the scheme will be annual factory product control surveillance visits. These will also be carried out at random and, in the main, will be separate from those carried out by the ISO 9000 certification body.