Door Industry Journal - Spring 2017

Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk 106 THE door industry journal spring 2017 fire & security Are your fire doors safe and legal? Nick Goddard, Research and Development Manager at Geofire has been in the fire safety industry for over 20 years. Here he talks about the importance of fire doors and the technology available to hold open fire doors safely and legally. Fire doors are designed to prevent the spread of smoke, flames and toxic gases throughout a building in the event of a fire. However, when a fire door is held open, fire can quickly pass through the building, blocking escape routes and endangering lives. Legally, a building’s fire doors must therefore be self-closing to ensure the door closes to act as a barrier that stops the fire from spreading. Due to the level of protection a fire door provides, the placement and weight of the doors is often restrictive for example in a care home setting for residents, or for pupils in a school. It is recognised that in these cases it is necessary to hold fire doors open for practical reasons. In this instance the fire door must have a device installed to release the door, so that is will close upon activation of the fire alarm system. Holding open fire doors legally Making sure fire doors are closed when the fire alarm sounds is extremely important. The British Standard 7273-4:2015 Code of Practice for the operation of fire protection measures - Part 4: actuation of release mechanisms for doors gives guidance on the installation, commissioning and maintenance of fire door holding systems. The system/hardware used to hold the doors open must also be approved to EN1155 standard. Fire door retainers, also known as fire door holders, use a magnet to hold open heavy fire doors that will release in the event of a fire. Stand-alone door retainers are suitable for doors that already have a closing device fitted, however fire door closers with a built in hold open function are also available.