The Importance Of Fire Door Maintenance

Many buildings need to meet mandatory and legal responsibilities with regards to fire safety within their premises to protect both the occupants and the building itself in the event of fire emergency. A fire outbreak in any building is always a serious matter – both lives and property can be lost in such circumstances. One of the most important aspects of a building’s fire safety precautions are the fire doors installed – they play a quintessential role in the fire protection strategy of a building as they are there to create a barrier to contain any fire outbreak in the area that it occurs, and stop any spread of the harmful effects of fire such as flame, heat, and the potentially fatal smoke from entering any other areas of the building. There are more casualties caused by smoke inhalation rather than from the fire or flames themselves – smoke can very quickly incapacitate people and prevent them from exiting the building in time, so it is essential that all fire doors are permanently ‘fit-for-purpose’ and maintained in a condition to provide this vital protection.

Fire Door Maintenance

Fire doors are designed and manufactured to specific safety levels to offer fire protection in different environments – for example, FD30 fire doors offer protection from the effects of a fire for a minimum of 30 minutes, an FD60 fire door offers the same protection for a minimum of 60 minutes, an FD90 door for 90 minutes, and so on. Along with effective fire detection and alarm systems, and fire-fighting equipment, the fire doors provide the safety demanded for the occupants of a building – once installed, however, it is imperative that these fire doors are inspected regularly and maintained to the standard in which they were initially tested and installed. There are many aspects of the fire doors to be checked including:

Door Gaps and Smoke Seals

There are minimum standards and measurements that fire doors must adhere to and comply. Any gap between 2mm and 4mm between a fire door and its frame will make the fire door ineffective. All fire doors should be manufactured or equipped with intumescent seals to prevent the spread of harmful smoke – to ensure sufficient room for these vital intumescent strips there should be a recommended gap of 3mm.

Door Furniture and Glazing

All the components of the fire door need to be regularly checked – the hinges, handles, locks, and letterboxes where present, all need to be in full working order and, where required, any glazed panels must be of the approved and tested material and the beading or fixtures holding them in place be properly sealed. Many fire doors are fitted with automatic closing devices – these must be checked and tested regularly – failure of these devices to function properly could allow fire to quickly spread to adjoining areas and threaten the safety and lives of occupants whilst trying to evacuate the building. A defect of, or damage to, any of these features can seriously compromise the door’s structural and functional integrity affecting the door’s performance and effectiveness.

Regularity Of Checks

A building must have in place a calendar of safety checking and maintenance of all the fire safety features installed – regular risk assessments should be performed alongside any checks, and it is recommended that inspections be performed AT LEAST semi-annually and, in some environments, more regularly than that! Fire doors that experience heavy footfall or traffic, with people constantly accessing them, can deteriorate more quickly than other doors so these need to be checked more regularly and more rigorously. Some fire doors may suffer ‘dropping’ or warping from being held open for longer periods – this may lead to these doors not closing ‘truly’. This failure to close properly or fully most often occurs with double doors – and any door that fails to close properly will not be fit for purpose in the event of a fire outbreak, thus potentially endangering lives and property. If any of your fire doors show signs of these defects they must be rectified immediately.

Consult with established fire door suppliers or manufacturers whose experienced staff will be able to give you all the relevant information you require with regards to fire door safety, installation, and maintenance.