ASHE: You need to file waivers with CMS for six-year damper tests
ASHE sent a notice to its members Friday indicating that if hospitals want to observe six-year damper testing — as allowed by The Joint Commmission and the 2007 editions of NFPA 80, Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives, and NFPA 105, Installation of Smoke Door Assemblies — they’ll need to apply for a waiver from CMS.
CMS doesn’t formally recognize the six-year frequencies, due to the fact the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code, which CMS enforces, references older editions of NFPA 80 and 105, ASHE said.
I’ll try to get confirmation about this from CMS, but I have no reason to doubt what ASHE is saying. The full notice is only available to ASHE members.
About the Author: Scott Wallask is senior managing editor for HCPro's Hospital Safety Center (
