Five Step Guide For Fire Door Maintenance

Maintaining a fire door is extremely crucial to protecting the assets, structural integrity, and occupants of a building during an emergency. Not many people pay attention to the significance of maintaining a fire-rated door. After, it is only as reliable and functional as the state it is left in. Because of its importance, performing regular inspections of a fire-rated door is a must. Maintaining them is about providing a safe and stress-free atmosphere to the building occupants. Here we bring a five-step guide to ensure the proper functioning of a fire door.

 

  

What are Fire doors?

Fire doors are designed and manufactured with the objective to contain the spread of fire and smoke during the time of fire breakout. They are engineered, tested, and approved by respective authorities with a fire rating. Such doors can withstand flames, smoke, heat, and other elements for a specific time. Such doors can withstand all previously mentioned elements for forty-five minutes, one hour, three-hour or four hours depending on the manufacturer. 

Here is a five-step guide for fire door maintenance.

Check for Seals

Are intumescent seals around the frame or door intact with no damage? These seals are crucial to the performance of a fire door, expanding in the event of a fire breakout. It ensures smoke and fire cannot move through the cracks. If not, inform the concerned personnel. If the door is not maintained, it can withstand the intensity of the fire and thus cannot protect building occupants.

Check for Hinges

Usually, there are three to four hinges on a fire door. If there are broken or missing screws, report them to the building manager. If there is a fire breakout, the door might not hold back the smoke and fire if the hinges are not working properly. 

Check for Certification

All fire doors have a plug or label on their top indicating certification. You can use the selfie function of your mobile phone camera to check it. If you see a certificate, it is good. If not, report it to the building or property manager. 

Check for Gaps

Look for gaps on the sides and top of the door. If they are less than 4mm, the fire door is good. You can use a 1$ coin to check the gap – this would be about 3mm. The gap under the fire-rated door can be larger. However, it depends on the door. As a thumb rule, if the light is visible under the door, the gap is bigger than you can imagine. If the door is not damaged and fits the frame, you can relax. If the gaps are too big, smoke and fire can travel throughout the building, making the escape and evacuation of occupants a challenge.

Door Should Close Properly

Open the door nearly halfway, let go and let it close by itself. If the door closes firmly onto the latch without sticking on the frame or floor, it works fine. A fire door works properly only when it is closed. If it cannot close fully or has open wedges, it is of no use.

Along with this five-step guide, there are other practices undertaken by fire door manufacturers to ensure their proper maintenance. You can schedule fire door maintenance as suggested by fire door experts to ensure the safety of the building and its occupants.