Everything you need to know about interior fire doors

That’s a bit of a bold statement actually, as there’s quite a lot to know, but we’ll certainly give you the essential facts about fire doors by way of introduction.

Let’s start with the obvious – what are they designed to do?  Essentially, two things:

1. when closed they form a barrier to stop the spread of fire and/or smoke
2. when opened they provide a means of escape

It’s obviously critically important that these two functions work in absolute harmony i.e. the barrier to the spread of the fire and/or the smoke MUST NOT IMPEDE ESCAPE.

In terms of the specification of the fire door, that very much depends upon their location in the building as well as the fire hazards associated with that building.  Regulations and standards exist to help you determine precisely what’s required and where – and we’ll be looking at these in a later article.

Fire doors must be fitted with intumescent seals.  These seals are dormant under normal conditions, but expand greatly in the event of a fire to close the gap that always exists between a door and its frame.  These seals are usually placed into special grooves machined into the vertical sections and top edge of the door frame.  They contain different materials, such as sodium silicate or graphite, which expand at different rates.

Clearly the gap between the fire door and its frame is very important, and must be taken into account when considering the seal.  In general, this gap should not exceed 3mm along the vertical sections and the top edge and either 10mm (non-smoke conditions) or 3mm (smoke conditions) along the bottom.

It’s often not fully appreciated that smoke is a greater threat to life than flames, particularly in the early stages of a fire.  Thus fire doors may also be fitted with cold smoke seals, which prevent smoke penetrating around the door edges.

Some sobering statistics

Having introduced some of the key facts about fire doors, here are some very sobering statistics that speak for themselves:

• There were around 200,000 reported fires in Great Britain in 2013
• The biggest cause of death and non-fatal injury is smoke inhalation
• Computers were the most common cause of fires in offices (notably faulty leads and appliances)

Looking specifically at fires in non-residential buildings, here’s a ranking (in descending order) of the type of building reporting fires:

1.  retail distribution
2. other industrial
3. restaurants, cafés, pubs etc.
4. recreational and cultural
5. hotels, hostels etc.
6. hospitals
7. agricultural buildings
8. schools
9. construction properties

Fire door maintenance

Due to the crucial role that they play, it’s vital that fire doors are maintained exactly to the manufacturer’s specifications and checked regularly.  That way, in the unfortunate event of them being put to the test, they will perform as they’re supposed to.  Again, we’ll be looking at best practice in a future article.

So who should I talk to about my fire doors?

Clearly it’s hugely important that you talk to real experts – people’s LIVES are at stake!

Our team at Enfield Doors know this topic inside out, are familiar with all the regulations, standards, and best practices, and will work with you to ensure that the fire doors that you install do exactly what they are supposed to.

So to put your mind at rest,  learn more about our range of fire doors, or call us on 020 3199 5850.

As always we’ll be delighted to help you and pass on our expertise.