Are Your Doors Up to Fire Safety Code?

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Fire Safety Doors

It is essential to have a versatile range of single, double, horizontal and vertical sliding leaf constructed fire safety doors fire safety doors that have fire ratings ranging from 1 - 4 hours depending on the type of fire risk involved.

They need to have been designed to meet the highest demands for a pre-painted door for use in a wide variety of applications where fire resistance, security and sound reduction requirements may need to be combined. Fire doors within the corridors can be retained in the open position using electromagnet catches. In the event of a fire or outside working hours, they are automatically released to prevent the spread of fire.

Explanation and Specifications

Buildings are compartmentalized to delay the spread of fire from one area to another. The compartments are usually linked by doors to allow for passage of traffic around the building. Door sets have two important functions in a fire: when closed, they form a barrier to fire spread, and when open, they provide a means of escape.

A well designed fire door will delay the spread of fire and smoke without causing too much hindrance to the movement of people and goods. Different parts of a building may be separated from each other into compartments of a fire-resisting construction. Any openings leading from them will have fire doors to maintain an effective fire barrier and should prevent excessive transmission of products of combustion which can interfere with the safe use of escape routes. Every fire safety door is therefore required to act as a barrier to the passage of smoke and fire to varying degrees dependent upon its location in a building and the fire hazard associated with the building. Consequently, the function of a fire door is to provide adequate resistance to the passage of smoke and other combustion products during the early stages of a fire. Secondly, the function of a fire safety door is to provide a barrier to a well-developed fire without permitting fire and excessive quantities of smoke to pass. Some doors may be required to fulfill only the first function as they may not be subjected to the full severity of a fire because of their location; others may have the main aim of resisting fire penetration as indicated by the second function. Some may have to meet both requirements. At present, fire safety doors are specified as smoke-stop doors when required to fulfill the first function and fire-check and fire-resisting doors to fulfill the second.

The performance of fire safety doors is judged by subjecting them to the standard test. Tests are made on complete door assemblies. It is then fixed in a wall representing its use in practice. By testing a door in one type of frame and using it in another, no guarantee can be given of its behavior under fire conditions. The test procedure is fully described in the fire safety door standards and consists of exposing one face of the door to heat condition expected in a fire whilst observing the door for stability and integrity. The fire safety door standards require the tests to be carried out with the upper part of the door under a small positive pressure to simulate the conditions likely to occur in a fire. It also provides an objective method of establishing the loss of integrity of a door by the use of a combustible fibrous pad on the unexposed side of the door to see when it ignites. A door should be tested from each side to establish its performance with either face exposed to fire conditions.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: Rickey Pearce is an insurance agent as well as a part-time author. When his clients come to him for suggestions on safety measures for their business, he tells them about Powers Products. They offer the latest in space management, exterior technology, and safety issues such as fire safety doors.