TOP TEN DEFICIENCIES ON SWINGING FIRE DOORS
The design of fire door assemblies is to provide building occupants time to safely evacuate a building. They are part of the fire protection system which creates compartments within a building. Swinging fire doors with builder’s hardware are often subjected to frequent use and typically wear faster.
All swinging fire doors shall be closed and latched at the time of fire. Swinging fire doors have to:
- Swing easily and freely
- Be self-, automatic-closing or power-operated
- Positively latch in the closed position
The following are the Top Fire Door Deficiencies that we most commonly observe on swinging fire doors with builders hardware:
Painted or missing fire door labels.
- This is probably the most common deficiency we find in buildings today.
Poor clearance dimensions around the perimeter of the door in the closed position.
- As the building settles or the frequency of use doors tend to bind at the hinges and create uneven spacing around the door. Both metal and wood fire doors have different clearance requirements.
Kick down door holders.
- You are not allowed to have any auxiliary hardware that interferes or prohibits the operation of a door to close and latch.
Auxiliary hardware items that interfere with the intended function of the door (barrel bolts and dead bolts, etc.).
- It is shocking how often we see add on barrel bolts on swinging fire doors.
Fire doors blocked to stay in the open position
- The common place we see this is by housekeeping or maintenance. The common thing we hear is that we only did it for a could of minutes. It takes less time than that to ravage a building with smoke or fire.
Area surrounding the fire door assembly blocked by furniture, equipment and/or boxes.
- it is imperative that the exit has free access to an exit discharge area.
Broken, defective or missing hardware items (latch bolts and/or strike plated, closer arms, cover plates, etc.).
- Self-closing and latching items need to be operational at all times.
Fire exit hardware installed on doors that are not labeled for use with fire exit hardware.
- This fire exit hardware is incorrect for this door. The code states that the activation bar must be half the width of the door.
Missing or incorrect fasteners.
- You need to use Number 12 x 1-1/4″ flat, thread-to-the-head steel wood screws when attaching hinges to wood doors.
Bottom flush bolts that do not project 1/2” into the strike.
- This catches everyone off guard. Who would think to look at this but it is super important for the latch as well as top and bottom bolts.
The Door Security and Safety Foundation has published this fact sheet on all the top fire door deficiencies and their inspection points.
Contact us today, we can help make sure your doors are in compliance with all the current code requirements in Oregon and SW Washington.
