The high installation and maintenance cost is one of the chief restraints for the fire dampers market in Australia and
New Zealand. The process of installation is complex, but it's supposed to take place, and is governed by specific
legislation and regulation. Installation involves skilled labour and tools that increase time and cost to satisfy legislation. Fire dampers are also created in furnace and cooling systems, which add costs to the installation process, especially
in older buildings where the damper aspect is retrofitted, further complicating the integration into the building process. Fire dampers require regular inspections, tests, and maintenance to be carried out post installation costs to ensure
they operate within the required performance levels in an emergency. Operational costs can be serious, particularly
for commercial and industrial buildings with large number of dampers. Developers, contractors and owners who are
cost aware will limit or delay fire damper installations for the possible financial benefit which constrains the fire damper
market. Another problem for the market is that fire dampers can be regarded as an expensive safety accessory rather
than a necessity, resulting in under specifying fire damper systems.
Especially for smaller projects, or in poorer
regions of the country, the cost to install fire dampers is a barrier to investment. As regulatory processes are focused
on enforcing fire dampers with very little advice or recommendations for their benefit, this issue is destined to grow. Analysing the many regulatory requirements, as well as navigating their complexities, will be a significant challenge
in the Australia & New Zealand fire dampers market. Fire dampers must comply with a myriad of codes and standards,
including multiple codes and standards imposed by the National Construction Code (NCC) in Australia, the NZ
Building Code (NZBC) in New Zealand, adopting the NFPA Standards, and achieving UL certification. Regulatory
codes and standards also outline the technical requirements for damper rating, installation, testing, and maintenance. Manufacturers, as well as contractors and building owners, often have a difficult time keeping track of the evolving
regulatory environment associated with compliance, and ineffective upgrades may expose them to compliance risk
and potential legal action.
Not to mention, the many approvals and certifications that must be obtained from various
bodies can disrupt project completion timeframes and impact pricing – not to mention differences in regional
specifications and varying interpretations by the local authorities. Additionally, ensuring ongoing compliance with
codes and standards ill re uire continual training and update, hich can place a strain on a company’s resources
and staff. Unsurprisingly, complexity and uncertainty in with respect to compliance requirements may deter
companies of smaller sizes from entering the marketplace or inhibit the rate of adoption (coverage issues), particularly
with retrofits where legacy systems may not offer adequate levels of compliance with existing codes and standards. While fire safety is increasingly being prioritized in Australia and New Zealand, a significant number of end-users—
including building owners, facilities managers, and contractors—do not fully appreciate the critical role fire dampers
play in stopping fire and smoke spread throughout buildings. This resultant misunderstanding leads to either under-
specification during HVAC system design and construction, or worse yet, the omission of fire dampers altogether.
Some stakeholders vie fire dampers as an “optional” or even a “non-essential” secondary safety feature; ho ever,
fire dampers are a life-saving safety component and should be specified as such. Additionally, stakeholders may also
be unaware of the correct maintenance knowledge, inspection regime, and, with little understanding of the
implications of neglecting usage as required (can identify nothing is worse than a neglected damper, and it can even
make good dampers ineffective)—often stakeholders are unaware that maintenance is even needed. To compound
knowledge issues, there is very little education and training aimed at this sector, so the market is not well-utilized. Until there is larger recognition of the advantages of using fire dampers for stakeholder and regulatory obligations,
the investment into fire dampers will not reach its expected level, limiting the market's potential. Market Research 34
Future
The fire dampers sector is being challenged by other fire protection system methods, such as fire-resistant walls, fire
curtains, sprinkler systems, and more advanced smoke control systems.
In some building designs, alternative fire
safety systems and methods may be favoured over fire dampers, especially if they provide lower complexity in
installation, lower costs (less attention is given to the cost of ownership), or the system integrates with other safety
systems, such as sprinklers (which can actively suppress a fire, thereby reducing dependence on
compartmentalization from fire dampers); fire curtains (which provide flexible smoke containment with no mechanical
duct work); or an advanced smoke control system. All these alternative methods compete against fire dampers and
impact its market share and growth, particularly in buildings where multiple fire safety systems can be deployed. Generally, either: designers are willing to accept alternative systems methods or strategies that they perceive as
more economical or low maintenance than the increased requirements needed to install fire dampers; or owners are
simply looking for economical and excludes complexity in their buildings. This potentially dim
