It’s official.  I can’t hide from it any longer.  People ask me about “smoke doors” almost every day, but if you know me you know that I have a lot going on, so whenever I try to scale the mountain of information about this topic I get sidetracked by the little things that need my attention.

I’m going to handle this project the same way I handle most other big jobs in my life – by eating the elephant one bite at a time.  We’ve got doors in smoke partitions, doors in smoke barriers, and fire doors that require some level of smoke resistance.  We’ve also got doors in walls that are supposed to be “capable of resisting the passage of smoke.”  NFPA 101, NFPA 80, and NFPA 105, and the International Building Code all have something to say about smoke, and different editions may say different things.

Today I will embark on a journey to look at the various requirements and try to end up with a cohesive summary that we can all use.  Kind of like Chip Falcon’s Road Trip but without the rest areas and drive-thrus.

I hope you will share your input or ask questions as I muddle my way through this confusing but important topic.

Posts in this Series (more to come):

NFPA 105 – Standard for Smoke Door Assemblies and Other Opening Protectives

NFPA 80 – Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives

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