AOV smoke ventilation
Automatic opening vents
AOV units supplied and installed as part of the commercial glazing package, for the stairwells, corridors and lobbies where smoke has to be cleared from an escape route.
Scope of works
A window that opens itself when the building fills with smoke.
An automatic opening vent is a window or roof vent built into the building that opens on its own when smoke or heat is detected. Its job is to keep the escape route usable: the smoke goes out, the stairwell or corridor stays clear enough to walk down, and the fire service can see what they are walking into.
We supply and install them. An AOV is a window before it is anything else, so it is worth specifying alongside the rest of the glazing rather than cutting one into a finished elevation afterwards.
Specification
Automatic opening vents, to your specification.
- Scope
- We supply and install the vent within the glazing package. Wiring, control panels and commissioning sit with your fire alarm and electrical contractors.
- Control panels
- Supplied and wired by your fire alarm or electrical contractor.
- Position
- Formed within the window or screen line so the elevation still reads as one system.
- Handover
- Documentation for the units we install is passed to you at handover.
Every figure published here is one we can stand behind. Ask us for anything the table does not cover and we will send it to you in writing.
Scope
What we take on within an AOV package.
Vents in the elevation
Opening vents formed within the window or screen line so the facade still reads as one system.
Roof and stairwell vents
Vents at the head of a stair or in the roof, where the smoke needs somewhere to go.
Fitted with the glazing
Installed as part of the window and door package rather than cut in as a separate trade afterwards.
Documented at handover
The paperwork for the units we install is passed to you, ready for your commissioning contractor.
Specify it early
An AOV decided late becomes a hole cut in a finished elevation.
The vent has to sit somewhere that works structurally, keeps the sightlines and still opens far enough to do its job. Knowing where it goes before the frames are made is the difference between a vent that looks like part of the building and one that looks like an afterthought.
- Position agreed before manufacture
- Sightlines kept across the elevation
- Opening area checked against the brief
What we need from you
Send the fire strategy and we will work to it.
Where the vents go, how much they open and what triggers them come out of the building fire strategy, not out of a glazing quote. Send us that strategy or the specification written from it and we will price and fit to it. If it has not been written yet, tell us and we will hold the vent positions open rather than guess at them.
- Fire strategy or specification
- Vent positions and opening area
- Programme and access on site
Project proof
Recent automatic opening vents projects.
Common settings
Where AOV units usually go.
Survey, access and the existing building decide the final route. These are the settings this work usually goes into.
Related commercial services
Work that usually comes with automatic opening vents.
Common questions
Automatic opening vents, asked and answered.
What is an automatic opening vent?
A window or roof vent built into the building that opens on its own when smoke or heat is detected, so the escape route stays usable: the smoke goes out and the stairwell or corridor stays clear.
What is included in your AOV scope?
We supply and install the vent within the glazing package. Control panels are supplied and wired by your fire alarm or electrical contractor, and commissioning sits with them.
Where does the vent sit in the elevation?
Formed within the window or screen line so the elevation still reads as one system, and installed as part of the window and door package rather than cut into a finished elevation afterwards.
What documentation do we get at handover?
Documentation for the units we install is passed to you at handover, ready for your commissioning contractor.
What we can put on a pre-qualification questionnaire.
- Constructionline Gold Pre-qualified for public and private sector tendering.
- SSIP accredited Health and safety assessed under the Safety Schemes in Procurement umbrella.
- DBS-checked operatives For schools, care settings and any site where the check is a condition of access.
Commercial enquiry
Send us the automatic opening vents brief.
Drawings, a window schedule, elevations or site photographs are all useful, and none of them is required. A postcode and a description of the building is enough to get a sensible answer back.
- Phone lines are open 24/7.
- The office team picks up drawings and schedules during working hours.
- commercial@fensterglazing.com