What is the purpose of the Fire Rated Door System?
The main purpose of the Fire Rated Door System is to form a compartment by separating the lift lobby area from staircase exits in buildings/structures to enable people to safely evacuate a premise in case of fire. Fire Doors are a passive fire measure that helps to control the spread of fire, smoke & fumes from penetrating beyond the doors. They are usually used in shafts & staircase exits so as to enable people to safely evacuate a building under fire but also act as a means of compartmentalizing a fire. Normally, the exits/stairways in buildings require stringent fire protection to enable people to safely evacuate a building in a fire scenario. Passive Fire Products are used to retard fire (reduce the rate of spread of fire) when a fire occurs and prevents fire, smoke & fumes from spreading beyond.
It is also important that critical areas like Electrical Shafts, LV Shaft, Plumbing & fire fighting shafts, Lift machine room, Pump room, and Meter room must have a fire door.
Terrace doors are nonfire doors and will have louvers at the top half of the door. The latching arrangement has to be there with a vision panel above the latch.
What should one look for in Fire Doors?
The type of fire door whether steel or wooden. The fire rating, the total time that a fire door will withstand fire, smoke & fumes from propagating further. Obviously, the size and the accessories (hardware) are required. There are the actual physical properties to look for in a door. There are also Fire Rated Glass Doors and Partitions where visibility & aesthetics are required, use of fireproof glass and glass partitions are used.
In addition, one must look at the certificates (from which labs, whether government-approved labs or private labs), the standards of the tests conducted on the fire doors and the experience of the fire door manufacturer.
Why is it important to use a tested and certified fire door?
A reputed fire door manufacturer can provide you various types of fire doors that can offer a fire rating of 30 minutes to up to 2 hours. As with any or most fire safety products, it is best to use products that have been tested as per standards to test their efficacy in the event of a fire. In India, the acceptable standards are: BS 476 (Part 20 & 22); IS 3614 (Part 2); and UL 10C.
Experience
This is the most important thing you need to check about a fire door manufacturer.
Installation
It is important that Fire Doors are installed at the site/location by experienced people or preferably by the Fire Door Manufacturer. such as Virtual Bridge. As each manufacturer’s door design may vary, and it is based on their design that a fire door will function in the event of a fire, it is important that fire doors are installed as per the installation instructions provided by the manufacturer or an experienced installer.
