West Sussex · Fire damper testing
Bosham fire damper testing
Fire damper testing for commercial sites in Bosham and across West Sussex. CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, and fully insured.
- Gaps in the fire damper test log
- Dampers clogged with dust or grease
- Dampers hidden with no access panel or hatch
Fire dampers in Bosham buildings
The coast is only about 2 miles from Bosham. Corrosion is a known cause of damper failure, and coastal air adds to the risk near intakes and louvres. There are about 3 schools, colleges and universities, about 9 care, childcare and hospital premises and about 3 hotels, B&Bs and guest houses on the FSA’s food hygiene register within 1.5 miles or so of the middle of Bosham. If any of them has ducted ventilation, its dampers need an annual drop test at least. Bosham’s nearest hospital, St Richard's Hospital, is about 3.8 miles east. Where patients or residents may need help to leave a building, working dampers matter all the more.
If you manage offices, shops or flats near Bosham station, the ductwork in them may pass through fire-resisting walls and floors, and any dampers need testing at least once a year. The nearest hospital, St Richard's Hospital, is about 3.8 miles east; healthcare buildings like it are a reminder that dampers protect people who cannot move quickly.
Bosham is about 3 miles west of Chichester, in West Sussex. For fire damper testing in and around Bosham, please phone us on 0345 646 2711 or use the quote form for a fixed quote. We work across South East England and London, including Bosham. We cover 371 places across West Sussex, from busy centres to quieter spots. We also work in Portsmouth, around 10 miles away.
Every address in PO18 is within our area for fire damper testing, from the main roads to the quietest streets. Streets in the area include High Street, Viking Way and Merryweather Road, and we cover them all for fire damper testing. Close by, we work in Broadbridge (1 mile north-east), Chidham (1 mile west), Bosham Hoe (1 mile south), Nutbourne (2 miles north-west) and Fishbourne (2 miles east). We also work in nearby towns such as Bognor Regis (8 miles east), Chichester (3 miles east), Selsey (7 miles south-east), Littlehampton (14 miles east), Emsworth (4 miles west) and Rustington (15 miles east).
What’s near Bosham
Around Bosham, our work takes us to kitchens and buildings near The Berkeley Arms Public House, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Bosham station, about 0.8 miles north-east of the centre. Nearby you will also find Chichester Cathedral Treasury (3.2 miles east) and St Richard's Hospital (3.8 miles east). Green spaces nearby include Nutborne Marshes and Stoke Down.
About our fire damper testing in Bosham
In a fire, ductwork can act as a shortcut for flame and smoke from one part of a building to the next. A damper only does its job if the blade can drop fully. Regular drop testing is how that gets checked in each part of the building. The work covers motorised smoke dampers, offices and schools and fusible link fire dampers, and people most often call us about dampers that can’t be reached without an access panel and fire dampers that haven’t been tested for over a year.
In rural areas, conversions, country hotels and care homes can have ductwork crossing fire-resisting walls, and the dampers in them are easily forgotten. The first visit starts by locating each damper.
Duct Doctor has been trading since 2009, as a BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease. CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001 are in place too, and we are fully insured.
- Location
- Bosham (PO18)
- Region
- West Sussex
- Records
- Written report with pictures
- Price
- A fixed quote up front
- Working hours
- Overnight and weekend work, 24/7 emergency callout
- Phone
- 0345 646 2711
- Reviewed
- 30 October 2026
Places near Bosham
More services for Bosham
Looking after it afterwards
Good habits slow the build-up between visits. A few tips:
- Get remedials done soon after a failed test
- Fix water leaks in plant rooms and risers promptly
- Store test records alongside the fire risk assessment
- Update the register when ductwork changes
Pass the report to whoever keeps your fire risk assessment up to date so their assessment matches what was found. Outstanding faults should be dealt with, not left on file.
Keep a damper register: where each damper is, what kind it is and when it was last tested. It means nothing gets forgotten when staff or contractors change.
Your questions about fire damper testing in Bosham
Can you test school fire dampers in Bosham out of term?
Yes. Half-terms and the summer break are the natural time for school work. The FSA’s register shows about 3 schools and colleges with food registrations within roughly a mile and a half of Bosham. Just call 0345 646 2711 or email us with your term dates and we will plan around them.
Who is the fire and rescue service for Bosham?
West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service for Bosham. BESA guidance is that every fire damper is tested at least once a year, so an officer or insurer may expect a report less than a year old.
What happens if a damper fails its test?
We note the failure and what we found. We can then repair or replace the damper as a remedial job with a fresh test at the end.
What accreditations do you have?
We hold CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, and we are a BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease. Vent Hygiene Elite is run by BESCA and independently audited.
Whose job is it to make sure fire dampers are tested?
Under the Fire Safety Order 2005, it’s the responsible person, who might be the employer, owner, landlord, facilities manager or managing agent. Keeping fire safety systems working, dampers included, is part of their duty.
Do you certify fire dampers?
What you receive is a written report of each test, damper by damper. Failures are set out with the remedials we’d suggest.
Who has the legal duty for fire safety?
In the words of the Fire Safety Order 2005, it’s the responsible person. That’s generally the employer or the person in control of the premises, and where several people have control, each can have duties. Your lease and fire risk assessment should make it clear.
Can you set up regular visits?
Yes. We run scheduled maintenance contracts, set at the interval the system needs. Each report recommends when the next visit should be.
How we price fire damper testing
There’s no set price list, because no two systems are the same. What we look at:
- Any permits to work or inductions
- The number of sites or systems
- Where the site is and how we reach it
- The condition we find in the survey
What you pay depends on how big the system is, what state it’s in and how easy it is to reach. You get a fixed price before any work starts, so there are no surprises.
Asking for a quote
To speed up the quote, please include:
- Your last certificate, test record or report
- Wide pictures of the system and the area around it
- The times we could work without disrupting the site
- Problems your staff have spotted
Photos are the quickest way to a quote: wide shots of the system, close-ups of anything that worries you and how we’d get to it. Add the site type and your opening hours, and we can price many jobs without a visit.
What staff can safely do
Away from the kitchen, the in-house job is mainly checking: clear grilles, a log of filter changes and reporting anything odd. The inside of ducts and units needs a specialist.
When your team notices a problem between visits, like drips, unusual noise, smells or damaged filters, they should report it rather than try to fix it. We’ll take a look and give you a fixed quote.
The process
Our technicians bring everything the work needs, including protection sheets, the right tools and access kit. You only need to give us clear access and switch off what needs to be off. On site, the work takes a morning or an afternoon for a small number of dampers, longer where there are many. The timing of a visit to Bosham is set by you, and the travel is our side of the planning.
- Before the visit, we agree access, timings and any areas with restrictions.
- We open up ceilings and hatches and take off each access panel.
- We release each blade and check it shuts all the way.
- The damper is reset and its condition noted.
- We close everything up and send the results in a report.
Before we arrive
- Mention any locked doors, roof access or ceiling voids
- Let us know when the site is closed or quiet
- Clear loose items from the work area
How to get a quote
Every quote begins with a look at the system, from your photos and details or, where that isn’t enough, a survey on site. Then we send a fixed price so you know the cost before we start.
Advice
What the work involves, part by part
Access panels
Testing depends on getting to the damper. Most need an access panel in the duct and a hatch in the ceiling or wall.
Offices and retail
Multi-let buildings may have dampers inside tenant areas. Access to each area is planned with whoever manages the building.
Signs you need fire damper testing in Bosham
Corrosion is another common cause of failure. Condensation, leaks and damp plant rooms corrode the parts that need to move, so a damper can seize without anyone noticing.
These are the problems we see most often:
- Dampers clogged with dust or grease
- Missing or out-of-date damper records
- Fire dampers nobody can get to
- Fire dampers that haven’t been tested for over a year
For schools like Bosham Primary School, damper testing is easiest in the holidays, when corridors and ceilings are clear.
Questions to ask before booking
- Whether VAT is included
- When the next visit should be, and why
- What insurance they carry
- When they can work, and whether that is outside your opening hours
For landlords and multi-site operators
If you look after several sites, we can plan visits across the whole estate and price them together. Each site gets its own report and photos, so each one has its own record.
From a single site to a large estate, the standard is the same: a survey first, a fixed quote, the work timed around the site and a report with photos.