Holiday Door Decorating
Now, before you call me Scroogette, I do love doors and holiday decorating, and I can understand the appeal. BUT, there are a few rules to keep in mind...
FF: Stairs
I am often asked to provide "proof" that this type of repair is unacceptable. Often the most direct route to find that evidence is to ask...
Dormitory Tragedy – Ankara, Turkey
Last week I was contacted by an architect from Istanbul, about a recent fire that occurred in a girls' dormitory there. There were 12 fatalities...
QQ: Does every component of a fire door assembly have to be listed/labeled?
At least once a week someone asks me whether each and every component of a fire door assembly has to be listed or labeled...
FDAI in the News
I have several Google News alerts set, so every day I receive a few emails with lists of articles that might be interesting to the readers of iDigHardware. There was one on today's list about fire door inspection...
Fire Door Label Mismatch
Several of the comments on Friday's post mentioned this section of NFPA 101, as a reason that labeled doors must be maintained as fire door assemblies (even if not required) or that the labels must be removed...
FF: NOT Fire Door
Today's Fixed-it Friday post includes a serious question for all of you to ponder. I'll get to it in a minute. First...I received the photos below from a code official...
School/College Planning & Management
What should a school consider before purchasing classroom barricade devices, also known as temporary door locking devices?
QQ: Fire Door Frames with Existing Wall Anchors
"When I'm installing a fire-rated frame into an existing opening using existing wall anchors, how much space can I have around the frame, and what is permissible to use to seal that gap?"
WWYD? Manual Flush Bolts on Fire-Rated Pairs
Manual flush bolts on pairs of fire doors leading to rooms not normally occupied by humans? WWYD?
Decoded: Dwelling Unit & Sleeping Unit Entrance Doors
According to the International Building Code (IBC) and NFPA 101 – The Life Safety Code, most doors in a means of egress are required to unlatch with one releasing operation. One exception to this rule is when a door leads to a residential dwelling unit or sleeping unit...
WWYD? Clearance vs. Undercut
Last week I got a call about a problem that led me to do some research on the difference between the clearance and the undercut on a fire door. On the project in question, the fire doors were supplied with a 5/8-inch undercut...
Construction Specifier: Battling the Barricade
In the wake of any tragedy, society struggles collectively to process the loss. For some it is the loss of friends and loved ones, but for most it is our feelings of safety and trust in the overall goodness of our fellow man that are diminished or seemingly lost entirely. In their place, we are filled with an overwhelming desire to do something...
Garage Fire Door
These photos from the Glassboro Fire Department are a terrific reminder of the value of fire doors. Although most doors in single-family homes are not required to be fire-rated, the International Residential Code does require protection between the garage and the home...
WW: Trouble in Texarkana
I am writing this blog post from a hotel in Texarkana, Arkansas, where I saw the Wordless Wednesday door in the photos below. I hope that by the time you read this post I will be back on the road. Fingers crossed!
Fire Exit Hardware – Under Fire
I received a question recently about testing of fire exit hardware - when panic hardware is tested for use on fire doors, is it mounted on the fire side (facing the furnace) or the non-fire-side of the door?
BUILDINGS BUZZ – Voices from the Industry
I currently have an article on BUILDINGS BUZZ…the blog for BUILDINGS, a magazine for commercial building owners and facilities management professionals. The article covers some of the code changes...
Decoded: NFPA 80 Requirements for Hinges, Pivots, and Continuous Hinges
With the continued focus on fire door assemblies, it’s important to be familiar with the basic requirements as well as what has changed in the more recent codes and standards. This article focuses on hinge requirements for fire doors...
Fire Door Hardware vs. Builders Hardware
I've been asked several times - what is the difference between a swinging door with builders hardware (addressed in Chapter 6 of NFPA 80) and a swinging door with fire door hardware (covered in Chapter 7)?
Fire Door Win!
Kudos to the fire department, but the fire doors got some recognition too! From KCRA News...
FF: Dutch Door Modification
This Wordless Wednesday photo from Paul Shaaf and Kevin Lach of Twin City Hardware is a first for me. And after 7+ years of writing this blog, I don't say that very often. Enjoy.
Fire Door – Time to Close
How quickly should a fire door close? If the door closes too slowly, could it negatively impact the ability of the fire door to deter the spread of smoke and flames?
Fire Fight – ProPublica
For the last year or more, our industry has been dealing with legislation overriding the code development process in several states, with regard to classroom security...
New CMS Final Fire Safety Regulations – Ober|Kaler Health Law Group
This article about the updated CMS fire safety regulations crossed my desk over the weekend, and it contains a lot of information about how these changes will affect health care facilities...
Repairing Holes and Dents in Fire Doors
A very common repair includes installing steel fasteners in unused holes, grinding off the fastener heads, and concealing the repair with Bondo, but this is not specifically mentioned in NFPA 80...
WWYD? Concealed Closer for Heavy Door
This is a real-life problem on a current project and I know someone out there has a good answer. Here is a description of the doors...
WWYD? Fire Door Inspections
Will fire door inspections be enforced for health care facilities? NFPA 101-2012 clearly requires them, but it seems that more proof was needed...
NFPA 101 – A few more changes…
Last week I posted my next Decoded article - about changes affecting door openings between the 2000 edition of NFPA 101 and the 2012 edition. Paul Dzurinda of Russell Phillips & Associates sent me a few more changes that we should be aware of...
Decoded: Changes to the Life Safety Code for Health Care Occupancies (July 2016)
In case you haven't noticed, there is an interesting conversation happening on my post from earlier in the week about classroom barricade devices. If you have something informative to add in response to the manufacturers of these products...
WW: Kick-Down Stops
Nathan Burkhardt of Opening Technologies sent me this Wordless Wednesday photo of the kick-down stops (holders) they removed from the fire doors on one of their projects. Wow.
Applied Panels
When panels or trim (AKA plant-ons) are applied to fire doors, manufacturers have specific limitations on size, material, and means of attachment. I just finished teaching 6 sessions of Code Jeopardy...
FF: Broken Arm
This closer repair obviously qualifies as a Fixed-it Friday photo, but it also left me Wordless. Thanks to Jim Lenox of Allegion.
WWYD? Double-Egress Pairs
Here's a question for all of the distributors, fire door inspectors, AHJs, CDCs, and anyone else out there who has an opinion. When you're calculating the "prefit" door widths for a double-egress pair...
Banned: Classroom Barricade Locks
In this age of classroom shootings, many are looking for barricade locks - a cheap and easy stopgap to bolster door security...
WWYD? Old Fire Doors
When an old fire door needs to be modified, what precautions are taken to ensure that the door does not contain hazardous material?
Fire Door Clearance / Continuous Hinge
Two paragraphs were added in the 2013 edition of NFPA 80 to address continuous hinges used on fire doors. I've seen these sections many times and never noticed a potential problem, until it came up twice in the last couple of weeks...
FF: Duct Tape Again
While I was at the BHMA meeting this week, my dinner companions pulled out their phones to compare photos of bad hardware and code problems (yes, this is the fun stuff we do at these meetings). Tim Weller of Allegion had these Fixed-it Friday photos...
Stairwell Reentry
Most stairwells in commercial and institutional buildings are designed to protect the means of egress using fire-resistant construction and fire door assemblies as opening protectives. When building occupants are within a stair enclosure during a fire...
WW: Fire Door Inspection
John Lozano of Allegion sent me these photos from a recent class on fire door inspection. What problems do you see on this pair of fire doors in a health care facility?
Decoded 2 – Fire Door Assemblies
The first 2 Decoded classes are now available on-demand! Class 1 is Intro to Codes & Accessibility, and Class 2 is on Fire Door Assemblies. They're free!
WWYD? Vision Lights in Wood Fire Doors
My question for you is this...if you supply, specify, or install wood fire doors, is the glazing typically installed in accordance with NFPA 80 - at the factory or in an authorized wood shop?
FF: Day Care Stair
This Fixed-it Friday photo could easily cross over into Wordless Wednesday territory...a fire-rated stairwell door in a day care center, where the installer obviously had an accident that he didn't think was important enough to address...
WWYD? Existing Fire Door – New Access Control
This question comes up quite often, so I hope some of you have insight to share. In the words of my old friend Waller Elliott, "Picture this: You have an existing stairwell door (single), with a 90-minute fire rating..."
Close the Door on Fire
After yesterday's discussion in the comments about the lack of feasibility of annual fire door inspections, I think it's time for a reminder of how much protection a closed door can be during a fire. While inspecting all of the existing fire doors may seem like an insurmountable task...
WW: Abuse and Neglect
Today's Wordless Wednesday photo was sent by Nolan Thrope of Allegion...this is a cross-corridor fire door in a school. The closer is missing as well as the obvious hinge problem. Sadly, this type of neglect is not uncommon. :(
NFPA 80 – 2016…Sneak Peek!
I've been working on updating my code reference guide - adding new information from the 2016 edition of NFPA 80 - Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives. There are quite a few changes to NFPA 80, and although this edition of the standard won't be used in most jurisdictions until the 2018 model codes are adopted, some of the changes may help to clarify the requirements of previous editions...
FF: Tea Time
I think if I passed this Fixed-it Friday door while visiting this memory care unit my mind would have gone right to the NFPA 101 section that addresses exits disguised by murals in certain types of health care units. Maybe I wouldn't have focused on the actual artwork, but as Gail Erickson of Allegion pointed out when she sent the photo ("I wonder how many times the alarm goes off when they go to get a cup of tea?"), what is depicted in the mural could affect how well the disguise works...
Intro to Codes (video)
We've been working on a new series of whiteboard animation videos...here is one of my favorites!
Decoded: Fire-Protection-Rated vs. Fire-Resistance-Rated Assemblies
Where can we continue to install fire-protection-rated openings (NFPA 252 or UL10C) and where do we need to install fire-resistance-rated openings (ASTM E119 or UL 263)? One clue can be found in NFPA 80. In the 2013 edition, Paragraph 6.3.3.3 states that transom frames and sidelight frames are permitted when a fire-protection rating of 3/4-hour or less is required...
School Fire in Bethel, Alaska
Nobody ever thinks it will happen to them...a fire in their home, school, or workplace. But according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated annual average of 5,690 structure fires in educational properties between 2007 and 2011. I've written many times about how important it is...