Essex · Fire damper testing
Felsted fire damper testing
Looking for fire damper testing in Felsted? We diagnose first, fix the price and book the work around your hours, then sign off with a report and photos.
- Dust or grease build-up on damper blades
- Dampers overdue for their annual drop test
- Missing or out-of-date damper records
Looking after it afterwards
Looking after the system between visits is straightforward, and it helps at the next visit:
- Update the register when ductwork changes
- Never wedge or tie a damper open
- Make sure access panels stay clear and usable
- Store test records alongside the fire risk assessment
After testing, you get a report listing each of the fire and smoke dampers we tested, with its location and its result. File it with your fire safety log so it’s to hand for assessors and insurers.
Keep a damper register: location, type, last test date and result. It stops dampers getting lost as the building changes.
Fire damper testing in Felsted
Under BESA guidance, every fire damper is tested on completion of installation and then at least once a year. Spring-operated dampers need testing every year as a minimum. We carry out fire damper testing for buildings in Felsted and give you the records to show it’s been done. If you have dampers that can’t be reached without an access panel and dampers that stick or won’t close fully, we can put it right.
In rural areas, conversions, country hotels and care homes can have ductwork crossing fire-resisting walls, where the dampers are easy to overlook. The first visit starts by locating each damper.
Good records are part of the job. Each visit is written up with pictures, covering the work done, any areas we couldn’t access and a recommended next date. File it in your maintenance log so it’s ready for an insurer, fire officer or EHO.
- Where
- Felsted (CM6)
- Wider area
- Essex
- Paperwork
- Report and photos after the visit
- Price
- A fixed quote up front
- Hours
- After hours by arrangement; emergencies any time
- Telephone
- 0345 646 2711
- Page updated
- 30 October 2026
Nearby places to Felsted
Also in Felsted
Felsted buildings and fire safety
The FSA’s food hygiene register lists about 5 schools, colleges and universities and about 3 care, childcare and hospital premises with registered kitchens or food service across Felsted and its immediate surroundings (about a mile and a half). Buildings like these often have ducted ventilation, and wherever a duct crosses a fire-resisting wall or floor there should be a damper, tested at least once a year. The nearest hospital to Felsted is Braintree Community Hospital, about 4.6 miles east. Smaller healthcare sites, from surgeries to care homes, need the same annual damper test as a hospital. Felsted is covered by Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. Under the Fire Safety Order, the responsible person has to keep fire safety systems, dampers included, in working order, and the fire authority enforces that in most non-domestic premises.
If you manage a care home or clinic near Felsted, the testing that a hospital like Braintree Community Hospital (about 4.6 miles east) relies on applies to your dampers too.
Felsted is about 6 miles west of Braintree, in Essex. Whatever kind of site you run in Felsted, fire damper testing is something we can help with. We can work out of hours so the site keeps running. Our Essex coverage runs to 644 places, Felsted among them. For sites nearby, see our Chelmsford page (9 miles or so).
We cover every part of CM6 for fire damper testing and the roads nearby. You’ll find streets such as Station Road, Braintree Road and Chelmsford Road, and we cover them all for fire damper testing. Neighbouring places we cover for fire damper testing include Causeway End (1 mile south), Watch House Green (1 mile north-east), Little Dunmow (1 mile west), Bannister Green (1 mile east) and Brookstreet (1 mile west). Further out, we also cover Chelmsford (9 miles south), Braintree (6 miles east), Harlow (15 miles south-west), Maldon (14 miles south-east), Witham (9 miles south-east) and Saffron Walden (14 miles north-west).
Near you in Felsted
In Felsted, that means kitchens and buildings near The Chequers pub and the streets around them. A little further out are Little Easton Moat (4.9 miles north-west) and Braintree Community Hospital (4.6 miles east). The countryside around Felsted includes Phyllis Currie Nature Reserve.
What we’re called out for in Felsted
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person has a duty to keep fire safety measures working, and dampers are part of those measures. Whoever that is, whether employer, owner, landlord, facilities manager or managing agent, needs to be able to show the dampers work.
Clients typically contact us when they notice one of these:
- Dust or grease build-up on damper blades
- Smoke dampers with no recent test
- Blades that jam part-way when released
- Gaps in the fire damper test log
School buildings such as Felsted Primary School are normally tested in the holidays, wherever they have dampers.
Questions to ask before you book
- Proof of accreditation you can verify
- If the quote is a fixed price or an estimate
- Whether the work can be done while the site is closed
- What happens if part of the system cannot be accessed
FAQs for Felsted
Which fire authority looks after Felsted?
That’s Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. If a fire safety officer audits the building, they may ask for the latest damper test records.
Will you come out to Felsted?
Yes. Villages and rural sites across the South East are part of our work, Felsted included. Let us know about access, parking and anything unusual about getting there when you book.
Can we book visits on a schedule?
Yes. Scheduled maintenance plans are part of what we do, with visits at the interval your system needs. The report from each visit recommends the next date.
Will we have to shut during the visit?
Not usually. We need the work area to ourselves while we’re on site, so we book a time when it would be closed anyway.
What happens to the waste?
We contain it and take it with us. Grease, debris and waste water are collected as the work goes on, so it does not spread.
Who has the duty to keep fire dampers working?
The responsible person under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, who might be the employer, owner, landlord, facilities manager or managing agent. Keeping fire safety systems working, dampers included, is part of their duty.
What if parts of the system cannot be reached?
Anything we can’t reach goes on the report, with photos where possible, and we tell you what would make it reachable, such as extra access panels in ductwork.
What accreditations do you have?
Our accreditations are CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, and we are a BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease. The Vent Hygiene Elite scheme is run by BESCA and audited independently.
How the job changes from site to site
Access panels
Where there’s no access panel, we record the damper as not tested and say why. Fitting a panel means it can be tested on the next visit.
Smoke dampers
A smoke damper is opened and closed by a motor, not a link. We test them through their controls and check each blade travels fully.
The process
Your trading hours come first. We book the visit for a time the area is closed, whether that’s an evening, overnight or a weekend. When the team arrives, the work area is protected and the relevant equipment is switched off to cool, and the work takes anything from a couple of hours for a handful of dampers to a full day for a large building. Pictures of the system and its access let us plan the work in Felsted before we set off.
- We plan access and timing with you first, including any out-of-hours work.
- We open up ceilings and hatches and take off each access panel.
- The blade is released and watched to make sure it closes fully.
- We reset it and record any dirt, corrosion or damage.
- We close everything up and send the results in a report.
Getting ready for the visit
- Have your last certificate or report to hand
- Name a contact who can let us in at the agreed time
- Plan for cooking equipment or plant to be off before we arrive
How to get a quote
Some systems can be priced from photos; others need a survey. Big or complicated sites, and systems that are hard to see in pictures, get a survey first. Either way, you get a fixed price before work begins.
Related advice
For landlords and multi-site operators
Running several sites is easier with one contractor. We cover South East England and London, so a run of sites can go into one programme and kept to a regular schedule.
We work for landlords, managing agents and facilities managers as well as the people running the site. Where a system serves more than one tenant, such as a shared riser, it helps to agree who arranges the work, and we are happy to quote for all of it.
What staff can safely do
In-house cleaning and specialist cleaning do different jobs. A daily filter wipe and a weekly filter wash keep grease down at the front of the system, but they do not reach the grease that builds up further in. That part needs specialist access and equipment.
Logging matters as much as cleaning. A dated log of in-house cleaning and checks helps show that the system is managed between specialist visits, alongside our reports.
What happens if it’s left?
Until a damper has been dropped, you can’t say whether it works. A test gives you a clear answer, and we can offer remedials for any that fail, and that’s something you can plan around. Rural sites cannot always move to another kitchen or room when something fails.
One small site or a whole estate, we price it on the same basis: the work involved, the access and the timing. The price is fixed before any work starts.
Why choose Duct Doctor in Felsted
- Fully insured
- BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease
- Trading since 2009
- A written report with pictures after each visit
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