A FIRE door sold by the Jewson chain of builders' merchants which should have provided half an hour's protection was destroyed in only nine minutes when tested, magistrates were told yesterday.
The test proved "astonishing and alarming", said Keith Edlington, prosecuting. Another door, which should have withstood fire for an hour, burned through in 52 minutes.
The company was fined £10,000 by Aylesbury magistrates, with £3,000 costs, after admitting four charges of applying false descriptions to the doors and to labels. The court heard that up to 5,000 fire doors were sold each week.
Two doors were tested by Buckinghamshire trading standards officers. "Both failed very badly," said Mr Edlington.
"The half-hour door dramatically had a fire resistant performance of only nine minutes. That is both astonishing and alarming.
"The one-hour door had a resistance of 52 minutes, 86 per cent of its endurance. Better than the half-hour door, but not good enough."
Paul Ayres, defending, said the company dealt with a supplier which sub-contracted work out to manufacturers. "We had to establish where these rogue doors came from. One failed quite abysmally," he said.
He added: "We will now establish a much closer relationship with companies who provide fire doors to satisfy ourselves that the manufacturers are of a better standard."
The company had not recalled doors which had already been sold, said Mr Ayres. "The manufacturers are now aware of the very great concern. Lessons have been learned.
"Jewson's are going to look at their system to ensure this does not happen again."
