PROINSTALLER . CO . UK THE VOICE OF THE TRADE

ISSUE 127 OCTOBER 2023

A fire door is only as good as its installation . As one of the final people in the supply chain to handle a fire door and its associated hardware before building users , installers play a critical role in ensuring that a fire door will perform in the event of a fire .

Here , Rob Mottram , technical manager for ARRONE , a brand of HOPPE , highlights the key things that installers need to know ahead of fitting hardware to a designated fire door .

The difference between a fire door and a fire exit

People often confuse fire doors and fire exits but each serve a very specific purpose and play a key role in fire safety .

Fire doors are a form of passive fire protection and are designed to withstand fire for a set period of time , and by law it must have fire test evidence to prove this performance . This will usually be either a Field of Application assessment or a Third Party certificate of performance and will show that the door can withstand fire for a certain length of time . Fire doors have a minimum fire rating of 30 minutes ( FD30 ), but some steel fire doors can achieve 240 minutes of fire resistance ( FD240 ).

A fire exit is the door that acts as the final exit on a designated escape route in a public building and commercial buildings . The final exit doors should open immediately , with ease , and , wherever possible , in the direction of escape . To help fire exits open quickly and easily , panic or emergency exit hardware will be specified to ensure all building users can operate the door in order to escape a building safely .

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