What is a Fire Door?
A fire door is a meticulously engineered solution, specifically designed to inhibit the spread of fire and smoke within a building.
In contrast to conventional doors, fire doors are constructed to endure exposure to flames and hazardous smoke for a predetermined duration, typically ranging from 30 to 120 minutes, as determined by their certified fire rating.
These doors play a pivotal role as protective barriers, safeguarding designated escape routes and providing occupants with crucial time to evacuate safely. Furthermore, fire doors assist firefighting teams by containing the fire and restricting its propagation.
As a fundamental element of comprehensive fire safety strategies, fire doors facilitate the creation of compartments that effectively delay the advancement of fire and smoke, thereby ensuring the protection of lives and property.
Types of Fire Doors
Buildings feature various types of fire doors, each serving a specific purpose. Here are the main types:
- Cross-corridor doors: These doors separate different sections of landings to help contain fire and smoke.
- Stairwell doors: Installed between stairways and hallways, these doors provide essential fire separation and safe escape routes.
- Plant room doors: Typically used to enclose areas housing equipment like water tanks or machinery.
- Riser cupboard doors: Found in spaces containing utility meters, pipework, and other essential building services.
- Apartment doors: The main doors to individual residential flats, designed to protect occupants and prevent fire from spreading.
Communal Doors
Buildings feature various types of fire doors, each serving a specific purpose. Here are the main types:
- Cross-corridor doors: These doors separate different sections of landings to help contain fire and smoke.
- Stairwell doors: Installed between stairways and hallways, these doors provide essential fire separation and safe escape routes.
- Plant room doors: Typically used to enclose areas housing equipment like water tanks or machinery.
- Riser cupboard doors: Found in spaces containing utility meters, pipework, and other essential building services.
- Apartment doors: The main doors to individual residential flats, designed to protect occupants and prevent fire from spreading.
Apartment Doors
It is essential that apartment doors undergo annual inspections to ensure compliance with current regulations.
Similar to the evaluations conducted on communal doors, a rigorous 10-point inspection is performed using our custom-designed software, ensuring precision and thoroughness.
Apartment doors are required to meet fire resistance standards, with specifications of either FD30 (44mm thickness) or FD60 (54mm thickness), depending on the designated rating of the door.
Flat doors must be equipped with specialized smoke and heat seals, which can be integrated into either the door or the frame. It is imperative that the door is capable of closing fully and freely within 25 seconds when positioned at a 45-degree angle.
Additionally, all apartment doors must display clearly visible door numbers to comply with identification requirements.
