Using Fire Doors For Passive Fire Protection

Fire doors are critical components of a building’s interior plan because they will prevent the spread of fire as well as give the building occupants the safety they need. As a passive protection installation, it can control the spread of smoke, heat and flames for a definite number of hours such as half an hour, a quarter of an hour, one hour or 2 hours of protection.

There is always an impending danger when fire can spread freely around the location. When there are no other fire protective gadgets installed or stored in a building, like fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire-resistant passageways or fire hoses, then everything and everyone is at risk of being damaged by fire in little time.

Building owners must accept the fact that any time, their structure is susceptible when there is no passive protection applied to it. in addition, the installation of doors that burn slow even in direct heat will also need fire door maintenance. Make it a priority to have these doors checked on a regular basis. Once these doors are used by people as passageway, no matter how sturdy they seem to be, would also succumb to normal wear and tear. They can be used in heavy traffic areas such as laboratories, so it is expected that they will be worn out in parts or experience wrong installation procedures. Some of these doors may also carry low-quality components so it is imperative that a certified inspector for these doors be contacted so that the issues can be determined early.

There are also other problems with regards to these doors, namely:

• Defective doors
• No certificates
• Lacks intumescent strips or smoke seals
• Inappropriate fire rating of installed door
• Painting the fire-protective door
• No self-closing device

It would be of great help when these issues are addressed by licensed inspectors and the replacement parts should be sourced out from sellers of fire-proof doors and not just from any hardware.

Door sets that are capable of withstanding fire can be bought from stores that specialize in these products. The fire door assembly should be composed of approved door leaf and frame, casing as well as components that are compliant to the standards of fire-proof materials.

How does the rated door protect? In case there is fire, the door will protect areas that are still intact, as long as the smoke seal and fire seal are properly installed around the door leaf. It would defeat the purpose of the fire door when the installation of these seals leaves a big gap between the floor and the edge of the door.

A smoke seal will disallow the passage of cold smoke, the term used for smoke that still builds up the fire. It can spread to other rooms and may cause suffocation and asphyxiation, although it does not carry the kind of temperature that will cause burns. This seal will seal off any smoke and when fire has reached the door, the intumescent seal expands, totally sealing off the passage of hot smoke and flames that may cause injury or death to occupants of the building.