October 2, 2002
Invensys Building Systems Announces Recall of Siebe Actuators in Building Fire/Smoke Dampers

Invensys Building Systems, of Love Park, Ill., is recalling up to 560,000 Siebe actuators for testing and replacement, if necessary, which could be found in fire and smoke dampers. Actuators hold open fire and smoke dampers in a building's heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. A spring mechanism, integrated with the damper, is designed to close the damper during a fire to limit the spread of smoke, fire and fumes. The recalled actuators can jam, and prevent the dampers from closing. If dampers fail to close during a fire, serious injury or death can be suffered by building occupants because smoke, fire and fumes can spread through a building's ventilation system.

Building owners, damper manufacturers, and fire and safety investigators have reported dampers not closing during testing.

These MA-200 and MA-200-1 series actuators were used in fire and smoke dampers that were manufactured by various companies from December 1993 through October 1999, which were installed by private contractors in commercial and residential buildings. The actuators have manufacture date codes of 9348 through 9947. See the associated recall alert for more details on the dampers and companies involved.

Building owners and managers whose buildings have dampers containing Invensys/Siebe actuators should immediately contact Invensys' Program Coordination Office at (877) 481-2372 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT Monday through Friday. A web site where building owners can obtain a complete copy of the program information has been established at www.regcen.com/MA200. To be eligible for a free actuator replacement, the building owner must test the actuator and report the results to Invensys. Only actuators that fail testing will be replaced.