Installing shiny new fire dampers

Our entire complex is getting new active fire damper units, and today it’s our turn. Half the flat is covered with tarp and sheets, and the loud sound of drills and saws is piercing the air and, hopefully, the ceiling where the new dampers are being installed. Fire dampers are shutters designed to block the flow of hot air and smoke through ventilation ducts in the event of a fire. Along with fire doors and walls/floors rated to specific fireproof ratings, fire dampers are designed to stop the spread of fire, or reduce the speed of spread while active measures take effect. They’re more common in office buildings and factories, but you also see them in apartment blocks with shared aircon infrastructure or other ductwork. I almost wrote that as duckwork. 🦆 We were notified recently that an audit found parts of our building’s active fire systems weren’t up to the most recent code, so our building management arranged a bunch of work be performed, some of which involves replacing these…