Earlier this week, I shared some photos from Steve Quinn of Flylock Security Solutions of a fire door with at least two problems and asked, “What’s wrong with this picture?”  One problem is very obvious…the large piece of concrete holding the fire door open.  If a fire occurs, this open door will allow smoke to spread between the corridor to the stairwell, making the means of egress unusable.  Without knowing much about the building, I would say that the exit “sign” is also an issue.

The deficiency I was going for was the fire door label stating, “Fire door to be equipped with fire exit hardware.”  Fire exit hardware is panic hardware that is listed for use on a fire door assembly (UL 10C) as well as being listed as panic hardware (UL 305).  This door does not have fire exit hardware, it has a lever handle.  NFPA 80 states:

Fire doors furnished with or prepared for fire exit hardware shall bear a label, stating “Fire door to Be Equipped with Fire Exit Hardware.”

I have always understood the intent of the standard to be that if the door has the fire exit hardware label, it needs to have fire exit hardware installed.  Otherwise, it would have the label stating the minimum latch throw for the lockset or latchset.  These notations on the label help to ensure that the door is properly prepped and reinforced for the hardware that is installed.

Any fire door inspectors and fire door aficionados out there…what do you think?

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