Design considerations when

integrating smoke and fire

curtains into a building

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Whitepaper
(c) 2015 Colt International Licensing Ltd.
 Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
Summary
Fire curtains and smoke curtains are very commonly mixed up and the terminology around them is of-
ten interchangeably and wrongly used. This white paper examines what a smoke curtain is and what a
fire curtain is, explaining how they are designed, the standards and test regimes that apply to each, and
how they are each expected to be applied.
This whitepaper covers:
• What are smoke curtains and
fire curtains and what are the
key differences between them
• The standards which each type
of system has to comply with
• The design aspects to consider
when integrating these systems
into a building
• Installation, use, testing and
maintenance.
1. The differences between smoke
curtains and fire curtains
A smoke curtain is basically used as part of
a smoke control system. It is there to either
stop smoke reaching another zone or to
channel smoke through a particular route that
we want it to take. As such it will normally be
up at high level, well above head height, and
in most cases smoke curtains don’t descend
down to ground level.
A fire curtain, on the other hand, is used to
provide fire separation between two spaces. It
may well provide smoke control at the same
time, but that is not its primary purpose, which
is to prevent the spread of fire, and typically
it may be used to protect a lift door or an
escape route through an open plan dwelling.
In terms of its performance, a smoke curtain is
only expected to be exposed to smoke, so it
is rated to 600oC. A fire curtain, on the other
hand, may well be exposed to the fire itself and
fire temperatures can be a lot higher. So the
fire curtain is fire rated against the normal ISO
fire curve, which exceeds 1000oC, so it is a
much higher rating and the curtain needs to be
more robust in order to achieve that. If you
try to use a smoke curtain in an application
where a fire curtain is needed then the smoke
curtain simply will not be robust enough to
withstand the fire temperatures.
2
2. The differences between smoke
curtains and smoke barriers
The terms “smoke curtains” and also “smoke
barriers” are very often used interchangeably.
However in practice a smoke barrier is
anything which will prevent the transmission
of smoke, whereas a smoke curtain is generally
used to describe a fabric curtain, whether
it is fixed or movable. As stated above, the
purpose of smoke barriers is generally to
withstand temperatures of up to about 600oC
and really any material which will withstand
that temperature would be suitable as a fixed
barrier. So a fixed barrier will look something
like this:
In this case it is a flexible material, permanently
mounted at high level, so that if there is a fire
then we can open the smoke ventilators on
both sides but keep the smoke one side of the
barrier, so the rest of the area is protected.
The reason the curtains are rated to about
600oC is that flashover is expected to occur
in a building once the smoke temperature
reaches around 600oC, so basically once that
temperature is exceeded, the smoke curtain is
not going to do anything anyway, so there is no
point in rating it above 600oC.
 Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
3. Fixed versus movable smoke curtains
As an alternative to a fixed curtain, a movable curtain will be held up
above the ceiling level most of the time, and then once a fire occurs
and has been detected, the curtain will drop to its operational position.
This is usually done simply for architectural purposes. Nobody is going
to be concerned about seeing a fixed screen at high level in a large
warehouse. By contrast in a shopping centre or an atrium architects
want to keep any smoke barriers out of sight until they are actually
needed for operational purposes.
Typically an automatic smoke curtain will be a fabric wrapped round
a motorized roller, although there are other designs available, such as
concertina designs.
A moveable smoke curtain providing escalator containment
3
4. Smoke versus fire curtains
Smoke and fire curtains look similar to each other, but they have very
different properties and uses!
A fire curtain is generally installed so as to replace a conventional fixed
element such as a door, shutter or even a wall. A fire curtain is always
movable: the reason it installed is simply because we want to make use
of an opening that is available for everyday use which can also be closed
off in the event of a fire.
In terms of their construction, movable fire curtains are fairly similar to
movable smoke curtains but there are two quite important differences.
The first one is that the fabric itself is generally more robust to
withstand the higher temperatures, and to achieve this the glass fibre
woven material generally includes a stainless steel filament which gives
it higher strength at high temperatures. The other difference is that
with a smoke curtain side guides are not normally required, but this is
the opposite for a fire curtain: side guides are always required, because
it is necessary to ensure that there is a complete system with no gaps
for the fire to get through. So smoke and fire curtains are similar in
appearance but a lot of detailed design aspects are different.
 Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building

5. Construction of a movable smoke curtain

A movable smoke curtain comprises a roller which normally has an
integrated motor and bearings. The roller will have fabric fixed onto
it. This fabric is rolled around it and as the roller turns the fabric will
rise or drop. At the bottom of the fabric there is a weighted bottom
bar and normally at the top of the curtain there is a headbox which
contains the mechanism.
Most of the rollers are limited to fairly short lengths, typically around
4.5 to 5.0m, and around 80–100mm in diameter. The roller diameters
are kept relatively small so that the headboxes can be kept small; if
the roller was larger in diameter, then longer single curtains could be
manufactured but then the roller would be physically much larger and
much more difficult to fit into the building.

So to make curtains above that 4.5 to 5.0m length, then multiple rollers
and overlapping curtains are installed; the rollers may be either side by
side or one above the other, and this simply depends upon what is most
convenient in terms of the space available.
1

Headbox assembly containing a

single roller

1 - Non-flammable glass fibre cloth

2 - Extruded aluminium bottom bar
3 - Weight profile 3

Series of rollers
The bottom bar has two principal functions. Firstly, it provides a weight mounted next
at the bottom of the fabric so that when the power is removed from to one another
the roller motor then gravity acting on the bottom bar weight makes in a horizontal
the curtain drop. This assumes that the curtain is a gravity drop type, configuration to form
which most curtains are actually are, though some curtains are driven a continuous run of
down to meet some unusual applications. The other function is to limit curtains set within a
the deflection of the curtain if it is subject to high pressure differentials headbox
or air velocities. If the curtain flaps around excessively when it is in use
then it is less effective, so the heavy weight of the bottom bar actually
stops the fabric from deflecting too much.

Series of rollers mounted above one

another in a vertical configuration
to form a continuous run of
curtains set within a headbox

Side guides are available for smoke curtains for some applications but
the vast majority of smoke curtains won’t have any, since it is regarded
as acceptable for there to be a bit of smoke leakage around the edges
of the curtains. See page 8 onwards for details on the role of side guides
with fire curtains.

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 Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building

6. Smoke curtain controls power is lost. However where a drive-down

There normally is a zone control panel and
a local battery back-up (BBU). A BBU is
mainly to prevent nuisance dropping of the
smoke curtain, for example in case of a loss
of mains power. A BBU is not essential in
terms of fire operation because the curtains
will fall automatically under gravity when the
curtain is needed, for example in situations
where multiple or intermediate potential drop
positions are required, or where the curtain is
running horizontally rather than vertically, then
of course a BBU is required to be sure the
curtain will deploy in a fire condition.

7. Standards and testing for smoke
curtains
In the UK smoke curtains have to comply with
the EN 12101 Part 1 Product Standard. This is
a harmonised Standard to the Construction
Products Regulation and therefore smoke
curtains have to be CE marked.
(a) The product will need to have a heat
exposure test, which exposes the curtain to
600oC for a minimum of 30 minutes, although
most curtains are rated to either 60 or 120
minutes, because a smoke curtain which will
pass the test for 30 minutes will typically also
pass it for 60 to 120 minutes without any
problems.
So the Standard prescribes a minimum speed
of descent of 0.06 m/s and a maximum speed
- depending on where the curtain is located
– of either 0.15 m/s or 0.30 m/s. The 0.15 m/s
speed is intended for curtains which descend
below 2.5m, so that there is very little risk of
them clashing or hitting people at this sort of
speed.

(e) The other thing that the Standard covers

is the need to measure gaps and limit gaps
around the edges of the curtain to make sure
that there isn’t too wide a gap which could
cause excess smoke leakage past the curtain.

The Standard also applies to static barriers,

so any purpose-designed fabric smoke barrier
should be certified to the Standard as well.

There’s a bit of a grey area about whether the

Standard applies to products such as fire rated
glass or fireboard when they are being used
to create a smoke barrier. If a product is being
marketed as a smoke barrier, then it definitely
should comply with the Standard and be CE
marked. On the other hand if as a specifier
you have decided that you want to use fire
rated glass as your smoke barrier, then that’s
fine: it probably won’t need to be CE marked,
but you certainly would need to be able to
A smoke curtain under fire test prove to Building Control that whatever
product you are using is at least equivalent to
Sample EC Declaration of Conformity a smoke curtain tested to the Standard.
(b) In addition there is a 1000-cycle reliability
test. This is not because the curtain is
expected to be raised and lowered in normal Instead of an application Standard, which does
day to day usage, but obviously these systems not exist, there is BR 368, which gives a little
Colt International GmbH are expected to be regularly tested and the bit of guidance on smoke barriers, but it is
Briener Str. 186
1000 cycles equates to 20 years of testing the quite an old guidance document now and
47533 Kleve
www.coltgroup.com Germany
curtain once a week. some of the guidance is out of date. There is
Tel. +49(0)2821 990 0
also a limited amount of guidance in BS 7346-4,
Ser.No.:
Produkt:
200202 / AFV15012JM
SM5V2_1
/ 10-2015 / 10-1-1
(c) There is also a response time requirement which covers the calculation of the deflection
Autom. Smoke Curtain ASB (EN 12101-1: 2005+A1: 2006) to make sure that the curtain does actually of smoke curtains, smoke reservoirs and
SM5/2/DH/N/G/5300/1000/2/25/X/K/X/X/X/D120/PS
drop immediately once the power is removed. smoke depths.
Weight [kg] : 108
Fire Class : D120
Passage of fabric [m³/h] : 0.3/200°C
(d) There is a speed of descent requirement, The Building Regulations of England and Wales
t amp : -5°C to 60°C
Classification report : 0672-CPD-0144 because whilst it is important that the curtain make no direct mention of smoke curtains;
Response delay : <60 sec
will drop at a reasonably fast rate, it should they are referred to in BS 5588, which then
U [V AC] : 230
P [VA] : 140 drop so quickly that it will either frighten may then refer to BS 7346-4.
I [A] : 1.4
people or cause significant injury if it actually
Sample product information label drops onto somebody.

5
 Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building

8. Applications for smoke curtains

Typical applications for smoke curtains are as smoke reservoir
boundaries, channelling screens, void edge screens, void sealing screens,
corridor containment, shop unit containment, escalator containment,
stairwell containment and elevator well containment. We illustrate four
more typical applications here:
(a) The most common application is to create a barrier so as to assist in
creating a smoke reservoir. That may be in a warehouse, a shopping
mall, factory, infact in any building where the aims are to provide a
limited smoke reservoir where smoke can be contained before it is
extracted and to prevent smoke spilling through to the rest of the
building. The smoke barrier itself will therefore be at high level and it
needs to descend down to at least the depth to which the smoke itself
is expected to descend.
So, by limiting the width of the spill plume, the size of the smoke
ventilation plant can be reduced with resultant reduction in costs. This
is done by dropping barriers across underneath the balcony; those can
be automatic smoke curtains or they can be fixed screens. It is quite
common for architects to make a virtue out of necessity and put in
fixed screens which are then used as advertising hoardings, and as long
as those are rated to withstand 600oC. Again, any material is perfectly
acceptable.
(c) Another application for smoke curtains is as balcony edge screens.
In this instance, rather than to limit the width of the spill plume, the aim
is to avoid smoke actually from spilling from the balcony into the atrium
or mall above. In this case there would be smoke extraction from
below the balcony and the screens would need to descend to at least
cover the expected depth of the smoke under the balcony. It is not a
common solution, but occasionally it becomes necessary.

There are some differences in the guidance documents in terms of how

large a safety margin is needed below the calculated smoke layer depth.
CIBSE Guide E states that there is no safety margin needed and that the
bottom of the barrier should be at least as low as the bottom of the
smoke layer. BS 7346-4 states that a 100mm safety margin is needed.
The old Smoke Ventilation Association guide recommends a safety
margin of 500mm. So, there are various pieces of guidance and it is
down to the designer and their suppliers as designers to decide which is
(d) The final common application for smoke curtains is for atrium
applicable. Colt does not recommend that CIBSE guide E guidance (with
balcony protection. The image shows smoke curtains descending
its lack of safety margin) is followed, simply because it assumes nice flat
right down to floor level, which basically protect people on the balcony
bottom to the smoke layer and it is well established that in practice
from smoke from within the atrium.
the layer is actually going to move about a bit, so some form of safety
margin is very sensible.

(b) Another application for smoke barriers or smoke curtains is as

channelling screens.

Atrium balcony protection

The illustration here shows barriers mounted underneath a balcony.
In this scenario it is expected that smoke will spill from a shop unit or
an office under that balcony and then up through a mall or atrium. The
wider the spill plume is from the balcony, the more smoke is going to
be generated and the larger the amount of smoke ventilation will be
required.
6
So in this case smoke is expected to spill so as to fill a large proportion
of the atrium. However because the balcony is used for escape, then
rather than allowing the smoke to spill into the balcony, then we need
smoke curtains across there to separate the balcony from the atrium.
This not an application which is commonly seen in the UK, but is seen
quite a lot in places like South East Asia; it just comes down to different
design methods for different territories, and it’s a perfectly acceptable
good solution.
 Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building

9. Installation aspects and potential issues

In order to be sure that a smoke curtain installation remains in good
working order, attention needs to be given to the following installation
aspects at the design stage:
(a) Access for maintenance and repair. Since smoke curtains are
inevitably mounted at high level and architects normally want them
to be hidden away, they very often actually have all their mechanisms
above the ceiling. The bottom bar is the only component that is visible
in normal use; when the curtain is deployed then the curtain material
itself plus the bottom bar becomes visible, but the roller and headbox
are never visible.
If it is necessary to maintain or repair anything within the headbox,
then access to the headbox is required.Very often a curtain is installed
and then the ceiling installer simply plasters right up to the headbox
leaving no access for maintenance and repair at all, meaning that if there
is a problem in the future the ceiling has to be ripped out in order for
the system to be maintained. So it does make sense to look at where
maintenance access is going to be needed and to provide access panels
at that point.
(b) Location of the controls and the battery back-up. Ideally these
components are positioned close to the motor and the headbox, but
they themselves are generally not actually temperature-rated, so they
do need to be positioned somewhere which is protected and they
also, of course, need to be somewhere where they can be accessed for
maintenance in the future.
Air movement can also impact on the ability of automatic smoke
curtains to function as designed. When the curtain is deployed, then
excessive deflection and billowing can have two undesirable side
effects. The first is to raise the bottom bar to above the smoke layer
level - which is another good reason for having a good safety factor.
The other potentially undesirable side effect is that a significant edge
gap can appear, thereby allowing significant amounts of smoke to pass
the barrier. Obviously if the curtain is located at 90o to a wall then
edge gaps are not going to be a problem if the curtain billows, but if the
curtain is located say at an angle to another or next to a column, then
those edge gaps can become quite significant, and in those applications
side guides may be required.
(d) Another key consideration is the location of the smoke curtain. The
normal purpose of a smoke curtain is to control the smoke and keep it
within a single reservoir, so therefore if the curtain is directly above the
fire source then smoke from that fire source is probably going to move
into two reservoirs and so the smoke curtain is not going to do its job.
So therefore smoke curtains should always be above aisles or walkways
wherever possible, and if they can’t actually be above a walkway then
certainly any major fire source (such as high bay racking or large pieces
of machinery) should not be located directly underneath the curtain.

(c) Air movement can be an issue as well. If a fixed curtain is placed in a

location where there is regular and significant air movement, then that
curtain can flex, perhaps rip and cause a bit of noise and aggravation, so
it is necessary to consider where the curtain is located and whether it
is likely to be susceptible to excess air movement.

A billowing curtain

Location of curtains away from a potential fire source

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 Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building

10. Use, testing and maintenance of

smoke curtains

Smoke curtains aren’t designed for daily use:

there is no particular purpose in dropping
them in daily operation, so their lifecycle is
based upon them being tested once a week if
it is part of a life safety system; other than that,
annual maintenance is normally sufficient and
as mentioned earlier if annual maintenance is
required then access is needed for this.
A typical access panel arrangement
Let us now turn to the design and application
of fire curtains.

11. Construction of a fire curtain

A fire curtain looks pretty similar to a smoke

curtain in construction: there is a roller with
an integrated motor and bearings, a piece of
fabric fixed to and rolled round the roller, a
weighted bottom bar fixed to the fabric and a
headbox to contain the mechanism.

The only additional component with a fire

curtain is that side guides are now not an
optional extra for occasional use, they are an
integral part of the system and are required in
every application.

There are also other detailed differences. The

fabric itself has a different performance rating;
the bottom bar will probably also be slightly
different, because in this case it is expected
that the bottom bar will descend right down
to floor level. In addition, within the bar there
is normally some sort of mechanism to ensure
that a reasonable seal is achieved at floor level,
even if there is a rough floor surface. If the
bottom bar bows slightly under the heat, a
connection to the floor rather than a gap has
to be maintained.

12. Controls for fire curtains

Again controls and a battery back-up unit

will be needed. With a fire curtain a battery
back-up is not only required if the curtain is
driven down to its deployed condition, but
also if there are emergency access or egress
controls, allowing the curtain to be raised after
it has been lowered in order to allow people
through the curtain either to enable people to
escape or for fire fighters to go through.

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 Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building

13. Standards and testing for fire curtains

There is a British Standard for fire curtains:
BS 8524-1 is the product Standard and
BS 8524-2 is the application Standard, and
both were introduced in 2013. The product
Standard requires the curtain to descend by
gravity wherever possible, though obviously
this is not always possible for horizontal or
lightly sloping units, so in those instances they
are allowed to be drive up, drive down.
(b) There are reliability tests involving cycle
testing and in this case the requirements are
for a relatively low number of cycles, similar
to those used with smoke curtains, where the
fire curtain is not expected to be used on a
daily basis. However a fire curtain may well
of course drop down to floor level, may be
used instead of a fire door and there may be
requirements for it to be dropped regularly, so
there are options within the Standard to go up
as far as 200,000 cycles.
(c) There is also an impact test, since because
a fire curtain is expected to drop down to
floor level, there is the risk of people knocking
against them, and so therefore an impact test
is part of the reliability testing.
The BS 8524-2 application Standard gives a lot
of useful guidance for example as to in what
circumstances such a fire curtain would be
used and which controls should be used for
which curtains.
On the other hand the Building Regulations of
England and Wales make no mention at all of
fire curtains and there is no method of linking
from the Regulations to any related standards
or to any particular requirements. This is
because fire curtains are a relatively recent
development and the current version of ADB
is relatively old (2006).

(d) The speed of descent is similar to a smoke

curtain: there is a requirement of a 0.15 m/s
speed of descent if the curtain is dropping
vertically below 2m, or 0.3 m/s either if it is
moving horizontally or if it is dropping down
to 2m from floor level (which is pretty rare).

(e) Smoke containment testing in this case is

(a) Fire resistance testing is specified by the
above Standard, and in this instance testing is
to much higher temperatures than for a smoke
curtain.
an optional extra in the same way as it would
be for a fire door: you can test it as say E30 or
E30S, and similarly a fire curtain can be tested
with or without smoke containment.
(f) And finally where there is the need for
accessories such as switches for egress and
access or anything else, then those are tested
as part of the testing regime.

It is worth noting that although the EN 16034

Standard for fire curtains has been published
and accepted by the EU, it is only likely to
come into force in the UK in 2016 or later.
If a curtain is being used as a fire door or a fire
shutter, then it should then comply with EN
16034 and it will need to be CE marked to this
Standard. Generally if the fire curtain complies
with BS 8524-1 it shouldn’t have any problems
complying with EN 16034 as that actually has
lower requirements than the British Standard.

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 Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building

14. Applications for fire curtains

There are five typical applications that a fire curtain is used for:
(a) The obvious application for a fire curtain is as a direct replacement
for a fire door or a fire shutter. It doesn’t mean to say that the curtain
will be used as a door in everyday use, but it would normally be
intended to keep it open most of the time and just to close it in
emergency or under test conditions.
(b) Fire curtains are also quite often used to protect lift doors. There is
an application where the lift doors themselves are not fire rated but we
need a fire rating at that location, then simply dropping in a fire curtain
in front of the lift doors is a common way of providing this.
(c) Another reasonably common application is where there is a relatively
large void being used as a smoke shaft, perhaps as an alternative to a
BRE Shaft or an ADB Shaft, then that void can be closed off using a fire
curtain. In normal circumstances such a shaft would be closed off using
a damper or ventilator of some type, but a void is being used then that
void would normally have quite a large opening, too big for a ventilator
or damper, and therefore a fire curtain could be employed to close off
the shaft on the levels where there is no fire.
(d) Another common application is in an open plan dwelling. In larger,
more expensive architect-type dwellings, there is often quite a
requirement for the ground floor to be open plan, which is
architecturally very nice and very convenient for the occupants, but it
does mean that if in the case of a fire people are trying to escape from
the upper floors, then they might well have to pass by the fire to get to
an exit. In such circumstances it is quite common to have fire curtains
which will drop in case of fire to provide a protected route through
from the upper floors to the final exit. Another common use is just as
small curtains, basically replacing fire shutters across counters, serveries,
service shafts and so on. The main reason that people would use a fire
curtain rather than a fire shutter is simply that it tends to be smaller
and neater and less expensive.
(e) The final application is as follows. As described above, smoke curtains
can be used to allow escape along atrium balconies. If there is a narrow
atrium balcony then it is quite common to be required to use a fire
curtain rather than a smoke curtain for that particular application. This
is actually one of the very few applications where it is very easy to get
confused about whether a fire curtain or a smoke curtain is required.

a b c
Floor

Headbox

Bottom bar

Side guide

d e

Protected stairs

Required
escape Open plan
width room

Note: the above schematics show the curtain part-

Entrance Smoke deployed for clarity. Of course they
door curtain normally drop right down to the floor.

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 Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building

15. Ratings of fire curtains

Where a barrier is fire rated, then quite often there is a requirement for
the curtain to be rated for insulation and/or radiation. Insulation would
be the ideal rating for a fire curtain but unfortunately it is quite difficult
to test for insulation on a fire curtain.

The reason for this is twofold: one is that quite commonly insulation
is provided by the means of an intumescent coating on the curtain
material, and this will tend to grow during the fire and it is not easy to
be sure that the thermocouple which it is mounted on non-fire side
of the curtain will actually stay in place in the test. The other reason is
that even if the curtain does not have an intumescent coating, the fabric
normally has a coating which quite often heats and dissipates in case
of fire, and if the coating is destroyed, then it gets quite likely that the
thermocouple will fall off. Therefore it is technically quite difficult to test
a curtain for insulation.
Because of this BS 8524-2 provides ways of using radiation data,
because obviously with radiation data thermocouples are removed
from the curtain and therefore it is much easier to test radiation than
insulation. Within BS 8524-2 there are a number of methods ranging
from very simple basic methods for small dwellings, through to much
more complex fire engineering methods. Essentially the purpose is to
ensure that in the escape route the radiation is sufficiently low to allow
somebody to escape past a curtain without suffering excess heat or any
injury.
Radiation table from BS 8524-2
This table from BS 8524-2 shows the length of barrier assembly along
the escape route which people will have to walk past, and the longer
that barrier is, then the lower the permitted radiation is. The data is
for the test radiation under the normal test regime at 15 minutes into
the test, and there is only a 1m long barrier then only 13.7 kilowatts
per m2 up to 5 metres is allowed, at which point we can only allow 3.7
kilowatts per m2. These are very simplified values worked out by a
Fire Engineering Consultant to give safe conditions in the tenable zone.
There are of course other tables in the Standard which could be used
for fire engineering, or it is possible to go to first principles and use
basic calculations.

16. Controls

There are a number of operational modes for
fire curtains and again these are all detailed
within BS 8524. It is quite possible to have
multiple position deployment: this could
involve a curtain which would drop part-way,
perhaps to provide smoke control in the early
stages of the fire, hold at that for a set period
and then dropped to provide fire protection at
a later stage.
There is also an emergency egress switch
for use by people escaping which allows
the occupant to raise the curtain simply by
pressing the switch once, when upon the
curtain will raise to at least 2m; if the switch
is held there for at least 5 seconds, then the
curtain will drop again.
Obstruction warnings are recommended
because obviously it is undesirable that people
will any obstructions which will stop the
curtain from deploying. The two options are
either a beam protection system providing
audible visual alarm, or for applications in
warehouses the floor can simply be marked
with areas where it is not permitted to
provide any storage, even temporarily.

There is also the option for an emergency

access switch which allows the Fire Service to
raise the curtain in order to access the space
on the other side, and that’s arranged in such
a way that when you press the switch the
curtain raises, and as soon as you let go of it, it
starts to drop again.

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 Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building

17. Installation aspects and potential issues

In order to be sure that a fire curtain installation remains in good
working order, attention needs to be given to the following installation
aspects at the design stage:
(a) Excessive velocities may cause the fire curtain to stick. In some cases
if the smoke extract fans operate before the fire curtain deploys, then
those extract fans can create quite a large pressure differential. Since a
fire curtain has to overcome friction within its side guide rails in order
to drop, it is possible for the curtain to actually stick part way down. So
if the scheme design allows this to be a possibility, it is important that
the curtain is made to close before the smoke extract fans start.
(f) Maintenance regime. Finally in terms of use, testing and maintenance,
in some cases automatic fire curtains maybe designed for daily use,
although most are intended for emergency use only and this will be
reflected in their reliability classes.
Maintenance should be to the manufacturer’s instructions: annual
maintenance is normally sufficient but there are requirements in
BS8524-2 for much more regular testing than is normally used for
smoke curtains, and table shown here taken from BS 8524 shows the
basic testing requirements:

This is likely to be less of a problem with smoke curtains, where if the

smoke extract fans start before the smoke curtains deploy, the bottom
bar might just swing about a little bit.

(b) Possible need to calculate the likely deflection. Since a fire curtain
always has side guides, deflection is much less likely to be an issue for
a fire curtain than for a smoke curtain. However where a curtain is
situated adjacent to an escape route, then it is necessary to know what
the deflection is and allow for that in the selection of the width of the
escape route to make sure that there is a suitable available width for
people to escape through.

(c) Access for maintenance and repair. Again, as for smoke curtains,
access and maintenance repair can be an issue, because the mechanism
is always at high level, and if it is necessary to maintain or repair anything
within the headbox, then access to the headbox is required. However
In general terms it seems much more acceptable for the headboxes to
be on display with fire curtains, but again if the fire curtain headbox is
mounted above ceiling level then consideration needs to be given to
access through the ceiling.
Where there is no equipment providing obstruction warnings, that
is to say when some markings are simply made on the floor to show
an area where there should be no obstructions, then daily inspection
is recommended to ensure that nobody has actually stored anything
underneath the curtain.

(d) Potential for obstructions. Compared to smoke curtains, obstruction
is quite an important issue. In most cases smoke curtains do not
descend anywhere near floor level, and nothing should be stored
underneath them anyway, so this is probably not an issue. Since fire
curtains descend down to low level, keeping obstructions out of the way
is much more important.
(e) Timing of descent. The moment when the fire curtain should actually
close needs close consideration. If people are likely to be wanting to
escape through a route where the fire curtain is, then it makes sense to
deploy the fire curtain as late as possible, whereas in other applications
it makes sense to deploy the fire curtain early. So in some cases it will
be deployed from a signal from the general smoke detection system, in
other cases from a local smoke detector, and sometimes from a local
fire detector. BS 8524-2 provides a table which very clearly states which
systems are acceptable and under which circumstances.
As with smoke curtains, there is a recommendation for weekly
operation of each unit, basically to check that it is working, a monthly
check of any release mechanism self-closing devices, sensory detection
equipment, etc., basically just making sure that the system is there and
functions properly.
If the system is part of a smoke control system, then also there usually
is a 3 monthly check that it actually works properly in conjunction with
the smoke control system, and then every 6 months there is a check of
any smoke seals: if it is a smoke sealed unit, then just a general structural
check is needed to make sure that it is not damaged or bowed or
deformed.
So there is quite a lot more testing set out in the Standard for a fire
curtain as opposed to a smoke curtain, but since people never do more
than what is asked for and they quite often do less, it is better to err on
the side of safety rather than anything else.

12
 Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building

18. Summary

Smoke curtains and fire curtains have significant differences and are not
interchangeable. It is important to be sure about which one is needed,
and to specify it properly. To make it simple to decide, fire curtains
restrict the spread of fire, and smoke curtains only restrict the
spread of smoke, and this is a very important difference.

At the moment if you are buying a smoke curtain within the UK, it
should be CE marked to the European Standard; if you buy a fire
curtain, there isn’t actually a Standard to CE mark it to the moment.
Both products basically are there to enhance architectural flexibility and
they do form important parts of the building’s fire safety strategy, so
it is important that they are applied properly and maintained
properly once they are in place.

See www.coltinfo.co.uk and

http://www.coltinfo.co.uk/fire-and-smoke-curtains-cpd-seminar.html
for further information.

About Colt
Since 1931 Colt has been harnessing the natural elements to provide healthy, comfortable and safe working and living conditions
in buildings. Colt is a specialist in smoke control, climate control and HVAC systems, industrial ventilation and solar shading, with a
presence in more than 50 countries.