IN response to the growing demand from building estate managers and other specifiers, BM Trada Certification has launched a heavyweight third-party Q-Mark certification scheme for the lifetime performance of hinged and pivot doorsets.

The scheme is based on sister company Chiltern Dynamics’ highly successful Classification for Service Life Test Programme CDTM01. BM Trada Q-Mark product certification manager Simon Beer­ says: “We have been approached by a number of estate managers, particularly those responsible for hospitals, who have indicated that the durability of doorsets is a real issue.
“While they are able to determine through third-party certification how well a product might perform in the event of a fire or an attempted forced entry, there is nothing currently in place that demonstrates durability. The introduction of this new scheme for the first time enables specification of enhanced lifetime performance.”
Chiltern Dynamics’ head of mechanical testing section Paul Andrews says: “Several leading doorset manufacturers have already undergone testing under CDTM01 with us. However, to further help them win business that they might not have secured without this test evidence, these manufacturers have wanted to achieve independent third-party verification that their products are fit for their specific purpose. This new BM Trada Q-Mark scheme will enable them to do so.”
Andrews adds: “Over the years working closely with the industry, Chiltern Dynamics has monitored and refined the test programme to ensure that testing fully reflects the end-use environment. Based on the feedback, a new ‘very severe’ category has been added, to evaluate doorsets exposed to excessive impacts from pedestrian traffic such as trolleys and wheelchairs.”
The new BM Trada Certification Q-Mark ‘Enhanced lifetime performance scheme’ allows manufacturers to demonstrate to specifiers that not only have their products passed this stringent CDTM01 testing regime, but also that through regular audits of the manufacturing process they can be assured of consistency as well as quality.
Part of the BM Trada Group, BM Trada Certification is a leading multi-sector certification body accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). Established in the construction industry for more than 30 years, BM Trada offers certification to quality, environmental, information security and health and safety management systems, as well as chain of custody and personnel schemes. It also offers its own Q-Mark range of product certification schemes, CE marking and British Fenestration Rating Council (BFRC) window energy rating, as well as a wide range of training courses. The company has established joint venture partnerships in Spain, Latvia and Turkey and works with agents in more than 40 countries around the world.
Chiltern Dynamics is a subsidiary of Chiltern International Fire, part of the BM Trada Group.
It provides testing, assessment and certification services to clients around the world, to prove the performance of buildings and their components against a wide range of performance criteria, offering particular expertise in windows and doors. All major tests are accredited by the UKAS. Its energy services department, a member of the Air Tightness Testing and Measurement Association (ATTMA), offers air-tightness testing and thermographic inspection of buildings, thermal analysis of building products, as well as acoustic testing and BFRC-accredited thermal simulation for windows and doors.