You’ve heard me mention BHMA before – the Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association.  If you’ve ever used the “A156.x standards” those are written and updated by BHMA.  And of course, there’s the BHMA Codes, Government, and Industry Affairs Committee (CGIA), where we work on changes to the model codes and referenced standards and publish BHMA’s Codes in Context and other resources.

BHMA is currently celebrating the 100th anniversary of the organization, and one of the events is a 5-week challenge for BHMA members.  The first week is related to safety, so I figured – why not share my safety submission here as well?

A closed and latched fire door will help to deter the spread of smoke and flames, and protect the means of egress to allow building occupants to evacuate.

The focus of this week’s challenge is to share a hardware product that helps to protect people, so (no surprise) I immediately thought about fire door assemblies.  While each independent component plays an important role, it’s the assembly that protects the opening in a fire rated wall.  One problematic piece of hardware could negate the value of the assembly when it comes to deterring the spread of smoke and flames.

Let’s take a stairwell door, for example.  The door leading into the stairwell serves several purposes.  It allows building occupants to exit, and may provide security from the stairwell side to prevent unauthorized access while also allowing reentry.  But from a fire protection perspective, its job is to act as the opening protective in the exit enclosure – the walls surrounding the stairwell.

Imagine that you are inside of an apartment building, and there is a fire in one of the units.  If the life safety systems are functioning properly, you may be able to exit from your apartment into the corridor, and then enter the enclosed stairwell to continue your egress route down to the exit discharge.  However, if the fire door on the apartment of fire origin is open, the smoke and flames may spread into the corridor blocking your path.  And if the stairwell fire door is open allowing smoke to enter the enclosure, the stair may become unusable for the occupants throughout the building.

A fire door that is open during a fire could allow smoke and flames to pass through the opening, compromising the means of egress and potentially harming building occupants.

As I mentioned, each component of the fire door assembly plays an important role.  The door and frame must be listed and labeled for use in a fire door assembly, after passing rigorous testing to ensure their performance.  The door closer, automatic-closing device, or power operator will close the door, and the fire exit hardware or lockset/latchset will reliably latch the door in the closed position.  The hinges must meet specific requirements regarding the base material, bearing type, size, thickness, and quantity, or must be listed and labeled as a fire door component.  Any accessories – vision lights, protection plates, gasketing, etc. – must meet the requirements of NFPA 80 – Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives, so that they won’t negatively impact the protection provided by the assembly.

Another important consideration is the performance of the fire door assembly throughout the life of the building.  Although the opening protectives may be perfectly compliant on Day 1, there is only one way to make sure they stay that way – to conduct fire door assembly inspections in accordance with NFPA 80 and the adopted codes.  These inspections are required after installation, after maintenance or repair work, and annually.  Without a qualified person documenting the condition of the door and addressing any deficiencies, it’s impossible to know whether the assembly will function as designed and tested during a fire.

To learn more about fire door assemblies, visit the iDigHardware page on fire doors, or watch the video below.  For detailed information about fire door assembly inspections, check out our laminated fire door inspection card.

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