Have you ever been working on a specification or submittal and needed to find out whether a particular product was certified, or listed for a certain application?  Maybe the plans show an oversized fire door and you need to see if your preferred manufacturer has tested a door of the proper size, or you’re specifying hardware for a fire-rated double-egress pair and want to know what your options are.  You can always call the manufacturer but when it’s midnight and I need an answer, I don’t want to wait until the manufacturer’s tech support crew arrives the next morning (as much as I love you Tech Support!).

Both UL and Intertek have online directories that may help.

Intertek Listed Product Directory

UL Online Certifications Directory

Here’s an example of how I might use these directories.  Let’s imagine that I’m specifying hardware for a 8-foot wide by 10-foot high pair of 90-minute hollow metal doors, and I want to use Von Duprin 9949-F-LBL fire exit hardware – vertical cable devices (no rods!) installed without the bottom latches.  I need to know if these devices  have been tested for use on a fire door of this size.  In the UL directory, I type Von Duprin into the Company Name field, and click Search (you can add more information narrow the search, but sometimes it narrows it too much).  This gives me a list of all of the UL certifications for Von Duprin products.  There are quite a few, so you have to scroll to find the correct one for fire exit hardware, but there it is on page 2 of 4:

Click on the link for the proper certification (in this case GXHX.R4505), and you will see listing information for most of Von Duprin’s fire exit hardware, including maximum door sizes, electrified options, and any limitations.  Here you can see that the concealed vertical cable device less bottom latch is acceptable for use on a pair of hollow metal doors (standard swing or double-egress) up to 3 hours, with a maximum door size of up to 4 feet wide x 10 feet high.

At the top of the page showing the listings for the various Von Duprin devices, there is a link that says: “See General Information for Fire-exit Hardware.”  The linked page includes additional helpful information about fire exit hardware, which is not manufacturer-specific.  For example, this page includes a maximum door size of 4 feet x 8 feet for singles, and 8 feet x 8 feet for pairs.  If the manufacturer-specific page does not show a maximum size, the default would be the size shown on the general information page.  If the manufacturer’s page shows a specific size, it would replace the maximum size shown on the general information page.

In addition, the general information page shows which tests have been used for these certifications.  For fire exit hardware, the general information page shows the following:

The basic standards used to investigate products in this category are ANSI/UL 305, “Panic Hardware,” ANSI/UL 10B, “Fire Tests of Door Assemblies,” and ANSI/UL 10C, “Positive Pressure Fire Tests of Door Assemblies.”

All products in this category comply with the positive-pressure requirements in ANSI/UL 10C.

Where indicated in the individual certifications, products have additionally been investigated to ANSI/BHMA A156.3, “Exit Devices.”

I hope this information helps you the next time you’re burning the midnight oil!

You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content.