The Importance of Fire Door Surveys
Fire Doors Save Lives.- A short statement, to the point, but you do not need to put any bells and whistle on this fact. It is as simple as those four words...Fire Doors Save Lives. Which is why it is so important to ensure you are getting the correct information and advice about the Fire Doors in your buildings.
R2R are an accredited Fire Door company- what does this mean for you? Third party accredited companies, like R2R, are always up to date with the latest legislation, we are trained, and audited regularly, to ensure our knowledge and skills are always in line with regulations. We know the correct and safe way to ensure your third-party accredited doors are installed and maintained and surveyed correctly.
So what what do we actually do when we carry out door surveys? What is it we are looking for?
To begin with there are different grades of fire door, and each one provides a different level of protection. The grades are separated by how long they can withstand fire. The main ones are FD30 (30 minutes), FD60 (60 minutes), FD90 (90 minutes) and FD120 (120 minutes). FD30 (45mm thick) and FD60 (55mm thick) are generally used internally for offices, and for residential buildings. Any grades over FD60 are more common for the protection of highly-valued properties or core infrastructures (for example, archives or server centres). We need to establish the grade of each fire door when we are surveying to ensure it is fit for purpose.
Fire doors can be made with a combination of timber, steel, gypsum, and aluminium. They can also have windows, if the glass is fire rated.
We then go onto check the following criteria on each door:
The door leaf- looking for any damage, chips, or bowing or twisting.
The door frame- Any damage to the door frame, whether it is affixed to the wall correctly, and fire stopped behind the frame (this check requires a more intrusive survey)
Gap measurements around the door- these must be under 4mm on each side of the door.
Intumescent and smoke seals installed around all edges of the door/frame. And the seals are correctly installed and not damaged.
Check the hardware is all fire rated: the hinges, locks, handles, door closer.
Glazing, on and around doors, needs to be fire rated also- this is distinguishable from a mark on the glass, or if the glass is Georgian wired.
Appropriate signage is needed on each fire door.
Whilst many doors may contain some or all of these features, they may not necessarily be ‘fire doors’. To be called a ‘fire door’, a design must be certified by a manufacturer and will have a sticker/plugs stating this. Otherwise they are considered as ‘nominal fire doors’
The above is a very brief overview of what we look for when surveying fire doors, and although these may be areas that anyone can have a look over themselves for their own individual doors to check it all seems in order- we cannot stress enough the importance that there is no room for errors. By choosing to survey your own doors you are taking responsibility for that door and the fire safety of the building and those residing in it. By choosing to use fully trained, third party accredited companies, like R2R, you can be assured the information you are receiving is correct and will lead to the correct maintenance needed on each door for it to perform as intended.
At R2R we are passionate about the industry we work in, the potential life saving work we do, and educating those around to see their importance and priority. Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help you to maintain the Fire Doors at your properties, and for peace of mind that the information you are receiving is correct, and will save lives.
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