Top Ten Fire-Rated Door Deficiencies

Authored by: Christopher R. Resig, AIA, LEED AP, DHT, CFDAI, DHIA, SCUP

Fire-Rated Door Assemblies are arguably one of the most important life safety features of a building. They provide fire separation, a means of egress, and security for buildings we occupy every day. Over the lifetime of a fire door installation, they could cycle tens of thousands to millions of times, which can cause wear and tear on the door and hardware for that opening. What happens if these fire-rated openings don’t function as intended? They fail to provide the necessary life safety and security. One of the best ways to ensure the fire-rated doors perform as intended is to conduct fire door inspections as prescribed by the model building codes, such as the IBC family of codes, NFPA 101, and NFPA 80.

Some of the most common deficiencies for fire doors that do not pass an inspection, which could cause the opening not to provide the intended fire separation, a means of egress, and security for buildings, include:

1.    Fire Labels painted over or missing.

2.    Poor perimeter clearance dimensions around the door in the closed position.

3.    Kick-down or plunger-style door holders are not permitted on fire-rated doors.

4.    Auxiliary hardware interferes with the proper operations of the door.

5.    Fire doors are blocked from staying in an open position.

6.   The area surrounding the fire door assembly is blocked by furniture, equipment, and/or boxes.

7.    Broken, defective, or missing hardware items.

8.    Fire exit hardware installed on doors not labeled for use with fire exit hardware.

9.    Missing or incorrect fasteners.

10.  Bottom flush bolts that do not project ½” into the strike.

To some, performing fire door inspections may seem like a nuisance due to the administrative and maintenance tasks involved. However, without the inspection process, how does a building owner know the fire doors will function as intended? The Building Code requires fire door inspections for jurisdictions based on the IBC family of Codes, NFPA 101, and NFPA 80. Let’s keep our fire doors operating as they should, as they are one of the most important life safety features of a building!