Important Notification FRB
Important Notice
Note that the list of potentially impacted products in the notice below reflects products authorised for sale in Australia. For relevant information for New Zealand, please contact the New Zealand based licensees listed here.
This is an update to the important notice (the prior version of which was published on 28 October 2025 and is accessible here) to businesses and personnel who engage with or utilise Pyropanel products, such as installers or end-users, relating to the potential presence of asbestos.
Updated 12 May 2026
This is an update to our previously published notice regarding asbestos fibres impacting one of the categories of fire-rated door ‘cores’ previously used in the production of certain Pyropanel fire-rated doors in Australia and New Zealand.
Below is the latest information in relation to this issue:
Which fire-rated doors/components may be impacted?
Note that the information in this section of the notice has not changed since the prior (28 October 2025) version of this notice.
The issue has impacted a product known as ‘FRB board’ or ‘FRB core’, which is manufactured by a third party outside of Australia.
We have previously sourced that FRB core from the foreign supplier, and then on-supplied it to certain licensees and distributors authorised to use the product in the manufacturing/supply of the following categories of Pyropanel fire-rated doors:
- FRB MAXI SI - 48mm nominal thick, single leaf hinged door - sizes up to 2400x920 or 2100x1120;
- FRB M14 Sliding Fire Door (PSFD120-80 and PSFD240-80) - 80mm nominal thick, up to 4hr fire resistance - all sizes; and
- FRB M13 Sliding Fire Door (PSFD120-65) - 60mm nominal thick, up to 2 hr fire resistance - all sizes,
(referred to in the remainder of this notice as “Potentially Impacted Fire Door Categories”).
Doors in these Potentially Impacted Fire Door Categories that are manufactured by licensees/distributors may be marketed and sold by them under different names. The manufacturer’s details for each fire-rated door should be listed on the tag attached to the door assembly, allowing that manufacturer to be contacted where it is appropriate to determine if the door falls into one of the Potentially Impacted Fire Door Categories and thus may have been constructed using FRB core.
It is important to stress that neither the FRB core, nor any Pyropanel fire-rated doors, contain asbestos ‘by design’. Instead, this is a contamination event in relation to which an explanation and more information is being sought from the relevant third-party supplier.
What is the impact of this issue on fire-rated doors/FRB core products already supplied?
In our prior (28 October 2025) version of this notice, we noted that this issue was still under investigation.
Based on all the testing and analysis to date, it continues to be the case that the impact of the issue is not uniform – in the sense that it has impacted some individual FRB cores but not others.
One of our licensees in New Zealand, our related entity Pacific Door Systems Limited (PDS), implemented a voluntary recall in relation to fire-rated doors using the FRB core that it has sold or supplied in the period 1 March 2021 to 11 August 2025 and in relation to which fire tags (labels) have not been issued.
That 2021-2025 timeframe reflected the duration of the period in which PDS obtained FRB core from us, but the voluntary recall notice noted that the precise timeframe of the asbestos issue is still under investigation. Refer the next section of this notice for information relating to the learnings from this investigation process to date as far as what we have ascertained about the timeframe of impacted supply.
Where the fire tag has been issued (reflecting that all works are completed on the relevant doors and they are installed), the doors are not covered by the recall and instead PDS has noted that relevant asbestos management plans in relation to the doors should be implemented and followed. ASSA ABLOY are currently engaging with relevant parties regarding the potential for a similar process to be adopted in Australia for potentially impacted doors already installed and with fire tags issued. Refer to the further information provided below on this aspect.
Consistent with previous communications on this subject, it continues to be appropriate to handle any doors in the Potentially Impacted Fire Door Categories as if they could contain asbestos.
Even if they contain asbestos, such doors should pose no risks while they remain ‘in situ’ with the FRB core fully encapsulated – which is a key reason for the approach being adopted by PDS in New Zealand.
However, should invasive or similar works on Potentially Impacted Fire Door Categories be planned, then the safety-related considerations raised by the information above will need to be taken into account. We would suggest obtaining the latest guidance from local ‘WorkSafe’ bodies and other experts in this context regarding such works.
What has Pyropanel found from its investigation of the issue to date?
As noted in the prior version of this notice, we have identified that there were changes made to the manufacturing arrangements for the FRB core during 2023, and there is mounting evidence from testing processes that the asbestos contamination issue is confined to FRB core (and doors manufactured with that core) supplied in the period since the mentioned manufacturing changes in 2023.
In particular, from a high volume of systematic testing coordinated via a consultancy in New Zealand under protocols developed with input from WorkSafe New Zealand, approx. 99% of a high volume of doors that were dispatched by PDS prior to 2023 and subject to up to 2 rounds of Polarised Light Microscopy testing returned negative (no asbestos detected) results. Those doors come from a range of different time periods within 2021 and 2022, and we understand it is considered that the one anomalous positive PLM result may have been a more recently ‘replaced’ door rather than a door dispatched in the mentioned period.
Accordingly, the evidence to date strongly indicates that pre-2023 relevant fire door dispatches by PDS were not impacted by the asbestos issue, and as PDS were being supplied with the same FRB core type (produced by the same offshore manufacturer) as was being supplied to Pyropanel licensees in Australia, it is highly likely that the impact period will be similar for Pyropanel licensees in Australia.
What are the next steps?
In addition to publishing this notice (including its prior iteration), we are continuing to be working with licensees/distributors to seek to ensure appropriate information is able to be provided to those customers to whom supply of fire-rated doors in the Potentially Impacted Fire Door Categories has occurred, as well as liaising with Worksafe bodies as appropriate.
One of the matters that continues to be under discussion is seeking regulator support for potentially impacted fire doors that are already installed with issued fire tags (labels) to be permitted to remain in place given there is understood to be no material health and safety risk, or adverse impact on fire door performance, while the core remains fully encapsulated within the door.
That is consistent with the outcome that has been confirmed as a legitimate option for building owners/operators in New Zealand, provided certain conditions are met in accordance with the relevant building regime and health and safety requirements in New Zealand. In the context of those requirements, key steps to be taken include adoption of an appropriate asbestos management and end of use plans.
We will update this notice further as this and related matters are progressed.
Thank you for your understanding as we work through these matters and please contact support.pyropanel@assaabloy.com for any further information.