Door Industry Journal - Summer 2017

122 THE door industry journal summer 2017 locks and building hardware feature Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk How To Extend Door Life Expectancy Doors and door hardware are one of the most heavily used elements of a building and if not specified correctly - can account for up to 80% of maintenance costs. Here, Graham Hulland from dormakaba looks at a best practice approach for selecting door solutions. Independent research has found that where doors and hardware represent less than 1% of the building’s initial cost, they can account for up to 80% of the building’s maintenance costs. Therefore specifiers and industry professionals will be well aware that selecting the correct door and individual components is critical to ensure long- term reliability, safety and continued compliance with relevant fire and access regulations. Primarily, specifiers should consider where the door will be installed and how it will be used. In areas such as busy corridors where there is high traffic, doors and their components can be subjected to thousands of open/close cycles a year. General wear and damage to a system that is not truly fit for purpose can lead to an increased level of maintenance, more frequent replacement of key components and possible repair of the door leaf, frame or surrounding walls. For these busy areas, electro- magnetic hold open or free swing door solutions should be considered the best option as they allow doors to be held open during normal use and close automatically upon activation of the fire alarm, or in the event of a power failure. With less frequent open/close cycles, these systems improve ease of access through the building and help to minimise wear and damage, reduce lifecycle costs and ensure compliance with both fire and access solutions. Additionally, specifiers should look at door control products such as a backcheck feature to assist if the door is opened too aggressively. The ‘Thinking Backcheck’ feature fitted to the majority of dormakaba door closers allows a door to be fully opened during normal operation without incurring any increased resistance, but will cushion and arrest the door at 85º to 90º if