Few existing buildings fully meet today's fire-protection standard — and often they don't have to. But once the use changes, renovations happen or a fire-safety audit leaves a list, a retrofit becomes unavoidable. We handle the entire process: survey, prioritisation, execution while the building stays in use, documentation — throughout North Rhine-Westphalia.
A retrofit is almost always event-driven — not cyclical. In our practice, these five triggers account for more than 90 percent of contracts.
Grandfather rights mean: a lawfully erected building may continue to be used in the condition in which it was permitted — even if today's rules are stricter. But this protection is not a permanent guarantee. It lapses as soon as the building is materially altered or its use is changed, as soon as an actual hazard to life and limb is identified, or when an authority issues retrofit requirements under the State Building Code. Our work starts in exactly those situations.
| 1 | Fire-safety order | Fire service or building authority identified defects during a fire-safety audit and set a deadline. The most common trigger in commercial stock. |
| 2 | Acquisition / handover | A new owner, property manager or tenant wants to assess the status quo and bring it up to the intended level of use. |
| 3 | Insurer's requirement | The property or building insurer requires specific fire-protection measures as a condition of continued cover or premium reduction. |
| 4 | Change of use | Conversion from office to hospitality, residential to accommodation, storage to production — almost always linked to higher fire-protection requirements. |
| 5 | Refurbishment / alteration | Where larger structural work happens, grandfather rights lapse for the affected areas — today's requirements apply. |
Especially where the building stays in use, the process decides time, cost and stress. We work in four clearly separated phases — each with a defined outcome.
Walk-through, photo record, review of existing documentation. Outcome: a structured defect list with priority tiers A / B / C.
Alignment with you, the authority and the insurer where needed. Scope definition, sign-offs, a firm fixed-price quote.
Trades coordinated, evening or weekend work where necessary, dust barriers, noise reduction — your operations keep running.
Joint sign-off with you and, where relevant, the authority. Test-record entries, declarations of conformity, photos — all bundled.
We recommend a two-step process: first the survey with a prioritised defect list (usually €1,500 – 4,000 net), then the firm fixed-price quote for execution. That gives you a solid basis for decision before committing to a number.
We cover every typical building type — from residential to industrial complexes with hundreds of components per site.
Stairwells with timber doors, inadequate penetration seals, missing fire dampers — the classic after a change of ownership.
Switching from production to logistics or back — new compartments, new gates, new seals.
Hospitality or day-care on the ground floor — higher requirements on separation, escape routes and smoke extraction.
Special buildings with their own retrofit duties — usually high priority on doors and hold-open systems in resident corridors.
Retrofits funded through state programmes, often during the summer holidays — narrow windows, clear sign-off.
Balancing fire protection and heritage conservation — bespoke solutions, often with a conservation expert involved.
Sections 17 and 87 govern grandfather rights and retrofit requirements — the basis for every order in existing stock.
In NRW governed by the special ordinance on fire-safety audits — orders are binding and enforceable.
Ordinances for assembly halls, hospitals, industrial buildings and retail — with their own retrofit duties, sometimes without transitional periods.
Requires employers to set up workplaces so that hazards are avoided — explicitly including fire protection.
Warranty and defect provisions on handover of existing stock — new owners inherit defects unless explicitly excluded.
A retrofit is rarely just a door. We cover every typical retrofit measure in-house or through long-standing partners — one contact, one invoice, one record.
We plan work windows that fit your operations — evenings, weekends, step by step. Your use keeps running.
Test records, declarations of conformity, photos — in a form that authorities, insurers and experts accept.
Doors, gates, seals, dampers, cladding, hold-open systems — one site manager, one quote, one invoice.
On request we handle the alignment with the building authority, fire service or insurer — including the joint sign-off.
Replacing old timber or sheet-steel doors with approved T30/T60/T90 doors, upgrading existing doors with fire-protection seals, door closers and hold-open systems.
Retrospective sealing of cable and pipe penetrations in compartment walls — cable seals, pipe seals and combined seals under tested systems.
Fitting missing dampers at compartment crossings in ventilation ducts — including access hatch and alarm-panel link where required.
F30 to F90 cladding of steel beams, ventilation ducts and cable trays — including enclosures for critical rooms such as server or back-up power.
Retrofitting electromagnetic hold-open systems for doors that need to stay open in daily use — with alarm-panel interface and annual certified inspection.
Retrofitting smoke and heat extraction systems in stairwells and halls — in cooperation with our RWA team.
Escape and rescue plans, fire-protection signage, warning labels on doors and seals — mandatory but frequently neglected.
The survey with a defect list — the clean entry point before any retrofit.
The hands-on installation — whether in a new build or as part of a retrofit.
After the retrofit, a service contract — no more missed duties.
Detail page for the most common single case — retrofitting a door in an existing wall.
Fundamentals on grandfather rights, duties and the line between old and new.
Send us the order, the expert report or the insurer's requirement — or let us walk the building with you. We come back within 24 hours with a proposal for survey and execution.
