2017 NFPA Conference & Expo Hands On Training for Fire Door Products and Fire Door Assemblies Presented by: Paul M. Goldense, FDAI Goldense Building Products, Inc. Jeffery S. Batick, FDAI Allegion Why are we here? What happened to cause Fire Door inspection to become a topic? Basically: IBC and NFPA made changes to the book of rules! 1
Changes in short NFPA 80, which is the rule book for fire door and fire door hardware, had new language inserted into it. The language states quite clearly that fire doors shall be inspected annually and a copy of that inspection shall be kept on file for the authorities having jurisdiction. The fire test for fire doors changed when the different states adopted the IBC Building Code starting with IBC 2003 Why did IBC change the test? The United States previously tested their fire doors differently than most of the rest of the world. The new test is more in alignment with the rest of the world. This current Positive Pressure test is more realistic of actual fire conditions Is Fire Door inspection a new thing? Are we breaking new ground? Yes and No Yes for buildings other than Hospitals / Health care. Yes for buildings where their respective property and casualty insurance companies don t require it. No Hospitals have done written documented Fire Partition and Fire Door Inspection for their Joint Commission Accreditation every three years for many decades BUT now the inspectors must demonstrate specific fire door product knowledge 2
Closing and latching doors are a nuisance! This class assumes you have a building plan with fire walls and fire doors documented. We are here to educate you how to look for deficiencies in a door, frame and hardware assembly. 3
The Inspection Process Boat U.S. Magazine, Dec 2014 The only way to trust your equipment is to inspect it regularly The inspection process What constitutes a fire door assembly? Basically it starts with a hole in a Fire Partition through which people, carts, stretchers, hand trucks, pallet jacks, forklifts etc. must pass through 4
The Basics: A door is only as good as the frame it is attached to. Conversely a frame is only as good as the fire wall it is attached to. IS THE FRAME FIRE RATED? Typical Fire Rated frames are made of Steel at 20, 45, 60,90 and 3 hr ratings These are normally referred to as Hollow Metal frames. A simple magnet is a good way to test. Many solid wood frames pass a 20 minute Fire Test with no additional materials incorporated into them, but they have to have a fire label attached. Other frame materials Wood Fiberglass Aluminum Stainless Steel 5
Visual inspection of frame This is an A label 3 HR frame to a roof on a college science building separating wings of the building Is the frame: Secure Bent Rusted or Rotted Missing pieces Twisted or out of wind Has visible holes in it for previous or unused hardware Has obvious field modifications made to in past or present life Has items not normally found attached to it Padlock eyes hasps Z brackets for barrier bars etc. Is covered in wood or steel or other flammable materials Fire rated door and frame assembly. This is an unacceptable clearances between door and frame 1/8 allowed (*Note: this is a METAL door and frame which is allowed +/- 1/16 th in) 6
What is the stop height? Generally the stop height needs to be 5/8 for a frame to pass fire rating. There are exceptions to this by a few manufactures but the More than general rule is 5/8 Frames with sidelights or transoms: Is the glazing intact? Are all stops, screws etc. in place? Is the glazing of an allowable size? Old school wire glass was required to be labeled with the fire rating but most was not. Acceptance of wire glass without a fire label is up to the AHJ. A fire door inspector is supposed to write up any doors or sidelights where the wire glass does not have a fire label on it. 7
Glazing bead screws are missing: NG-FAIL No bottom glazing bead to secure glass: NG-FAIL There are NO temperature rise requirements for glass panes in sidelights or transoms at: 20 min 30 min 45 min *NOTE: The NFPA codes reference 20 min and 30 min wall glass but it does not exist so you must use 45 min glass at any of the above ratings. More information on temperature rise to follow With 60 min sidelights or transoms the glass is considered a WALL. The glass must have a WALL rating which means it has 450 degree temp rise capability. 8
With 90 min doors which are installed in 2 hour walls the glass must have a 2 hour WALL rating with temperature rise METAL PANELS used in sidelights or transoms must pass the same WALL ratings and temperature rise ratings as the glass above. NOTE: there are different labels for glass in doors versus glass in sidelights/transoms Fire Rated Glazing in Fire Doors and Fire Windows WIRE GLASS LIMITS 100 square inches of exposed area for 60 & 90 minute rating 1296 Square inches of glass for 45 minute ratings (or less than 45 min rating) With no one dimension exceeding 54 9
24 X 54 = 1296 - OK 36 X 36 = 1296 - OK 16 X 80 = 1296 FAIL **** 80 exceeds the 54 allowable. This means any sidelight on a 45 minute fire rated frame must have a horizontal mullion limiting the exposed glass height to 54 max. Todays pyro-ceramic glasses have tremendous capabilities which must be checked in each case with the manufacturer of the glass Fire-Lite Vetrotech -Keralite Pyran Superlite This is a full glass pair of fire rated doors in a fire test chamber. This is a NON TEMPERATURE RISE TEST. These doors / this glass area will pass a 3 hr A label fire test 10
Fire Doors Temperature Rise All fire doors are tested to STOP fire Some fire doors are tested to stop fire AND radiant heat transfer Thus they are labeled with a Temp Rise @ min degree rating: 250ºF Max 450ºF Max 650ºF Max Temperature rise rated doors are required in some locations in non sprinkled occupancies Temperature rise rated doors are usually NOT required in sprinkled occupancies Fire Doors As always there are exceptions to the rules but generally: 3 hour A label doors are made of steel / hollow metal A label doors were never allowed to have glass in them until pyro-ceramic glass was invented. Wire Glass never did and still does not pass a 3 hour fire test. 11
Pyro-ceramic glasses pass a 3 hour fire test and many manufactures of hollow metal doors can today provide a 3 hour A label door which meets all 3 hour label requirements with glass in them. After the A label door you drop down to B label - 90 minute B label - 60 minute C label - 45 minute 20 minute doors B, C and 20 minute doors can be Hollow Metal or Wood and this is very typical SOME Fiberglass and Some Aluminum doors can also meet these requirements and would be labeled as such. These are far less common and are expensive. If you see a door other than hollow metal or wood in a rated opening look closely for a Fire Label. 12
THE NEW DOOR RULES POSITIVE PRESSURE Testing and Positive pressure Fire Labeling as UL-10C & UBC 7-2 The new IBC test moved the NEUTRAL plane FIRE DOOR SEAL TYPES New fire labels and fire seal types came as a result of the adoption of the IBC Code and positive pressure fire door testing. 13
What happens that is different under this test? The flames escape through the gaps between doors in a pair of doors and between the door and frame above the 40 line as the gases are expansive from the heat above the flames In the case of steel doors and steel frames: The heat of the escaping flames superheats the steel which expands and closes the gap or clearance between the door and frame. Fire Rated steel doors manufactured to meet the new positive pressure testing criteria will all have the wording on the label complies with UL10C or UBC7-2 14
What happens in other types of fire doors (Non Steel)? The flames actually burn away the door material and make the gap larger. Intumescent seals are applied to the top and edges of the door to meet the new positive pressure test requirements. What is NEW under IBC Category A and Category B doors A new IBC compliant WOOD Fire door label says which category the door is. Category A WOOD Fire doors have the intumescent seals manufactured into the styles (sides) and rails (tops) of the doors 15
Category B Wood Fire doors Need an additional seal typically this is applied to the frame Performing the actual DOOR inspection: Is there physically a door in the fire rated frame? Many fire doors simply get removed as they tend to be in inconvenient locations and traffic flows better without these doors. What will fail a door? Things to look for: Does the door have a fire label? 3 hr 90 min 60 min 45 min 20 min 16
Basically the same checklist as you used for the frame Is the door: Secure Bent Rusted or Rotted Missing pieces Twisted or out of wind Has visible holes in it from previous and/or unused hardware Has obvious field modifications made to in past or present life Has items not normally found attached to it Padlock eyes; hasps Z brackets for barrier bars Is covered in wood, steel, or other flammable materials These are A label doors in a class 1 division 1 explosive environment The doors do not have to be pretty but they have to be intact and functional Fire Doors when closed MUST stay within their frame rabbets. If the frame is twisted or the door is twisted and part of the door projects out of the door rabbet, the opening FAILS. 17
Glass lites in doors Is the glass Fire Rated? Is the glass within the allowable size for the rating of the door? Is the glazing bead which holds the glass into the doors fire rated? Is the glass lite kit intact and secure? Again there are exceptions to the rules but most older Fire Doors had the glass installed in them with metal kits Most manufactures of wood doors now offer fire rated wood glazing bead to hold fire glass in place. This is tricky to determine and should be questioned if the bead is rated and especially if the doors were field glazed. 18
Operation of Fire Door My best description of fire door operation is that they should be IDIOT PROOF Health Care only Every person working in a hospital, from a janitor to surgeon, is trained to RACE when the fire alarm goes off. Most occupants of regular buildings run out the door when they hear the fire alarm go off and don t give a second thought to the doors as they pass through. 19
A Fire door should close and latch into the door frame without any help, coordination or assistance by anyone or anything except the hardware attached to the door and frame. The Fire Door or pair of Fire Doors are self closing, self coordinating and self latching when specified and installed properly. It s that simple and that is what you own as an inspector! Door Hardware for Fire Rated Doors Only hardware which has been TESTED to withstand fire can be used on fire rated openings. What does this mean? With the exception of door hinges there is usually a label or stamp affixed to the hardware indicating it has been tested for fire doors 20
Fire Exit device versus Panic Exit device Normal panic bars for doors which are not fire rated have a PANIC EXIT label on them. The word FIRE is missing Door Closers Door closers usually have a sticker or label Door closers BURN UP in fires they are filled with oil The Listing or label certifies it will close the door before it burns up 21
What happens to the hardware during the fire? Common misconception: the fire door hardware will continue to work/allow someone to exit through the door after it has been exposed to fire Truth: NO SO WHAT MAKES IT FIRE RATED? The latching mechanism of Fire Labeled locks and Exit Devices are structurally still intact and engaged into the door frame. Fire Rated Door Hinge Requirements NFPA 80 requirements state: doors up to 60 in height shall have 2 hinges and an additional hinge for each additional 30 of door height or fraction thereof All hinges must be: Steel or stainless steel Ball bearing type construction General rule: hinges do not display a fire rating stamp Many manufacturers of concealed bearing hinges provide exposed identification labeling for verification 22
Single door latching Latching Requirements are: 1- Lock set 1- Latch set 1- Fire Exit device *Note, current code states: All door hardware shall be operable by a single motion on a single piece of hardware and shall be automatically self latching. *A discussion of proposed changes and ramifications can be found below: http://idighardware.com/classroomsecurity/ Single point latches 23
Pair Door Hardware Inspection: Pairs of doors are more complicated to inspect NFPA 80 requirements are that a PAIR of doors have THREE or FOUR APPROVED points of latching and one hinge for every 30 of door height. BEWARE*** Not all combinations of Three or Four latches are tested and approved for use on fire doors 24
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If you have a pair of doors with a lockset or latch set on one leaf then the inactive leaf will need to have one of the following: Automatic or Self Latching or Manual surface bolts 27
Fire Pins and Less Bottom Rod combinations The bottom vertical rod latches OR the bottom flush bolt can USUALLY but not always be replaced with a Fire Pin. Fire Door Clearances Allowable Top, Side and Centerline clearance Wood doors: 1/8 Less is OK and more is immediate failure Steel doors: 1/8 But allowable deviation is +/- 1/16 Allowable Under door clearance: Wood: ¾ Steel: ¾ 28
What do you do when the clearances exceed 1/8? Option #1 Adjust the hinges and if shimming is necessary only STEEL shims are allowable The old school use of shingles and cardboard is prohibited. Option # 2 Use retrofit seals These seals are available from numerous vendors for 20 minute doors. Presently, very limited options exist for doors with a fire rating exceeding 20 minutes. Smoke Containment Every Fire Door is NOT a Smoke Door However, those that are Fire AND Smoke classified will have both a fire and S (smoke) label Smoke door and frame assemblies are designed to: contain smoke usually require additional SMOKE gasketing If you see an S label ask is this assembly required to meet UL 1784 and thus has specific gasketing requirements? 29
NFPA 105 Smoke Door Rules We would need a laboratory and a lot more time than we have today Suffice to say most doors installed in the field need additional seals applied to contain smoke when they are in a smoke partition. Summary The building blocks of Fire Door Inspection Thank you for your time. Jeff, Paul, and Ron Coté will be in the NFPA booth on the floor throughout the show with a full size pair of fire doors to further discuss inspection and answer any questions. 30
Thank you for your time. Paul Goldense, FDAI paul@goldensebuildingproducts.com Jeff Batick, FDAI Jeff.batick@allegion.com 2017 NFPA Conference & Expo CEUs: To receive CEUs for this session, scan your badge at the back of the room before leaving Evaluation: Complete a session evaluation on the mobile app. (Search app store for NFPA 2017 C&E. ) Handouts: Handouts will be available via the mobile app and at nfpa.org/conference Recordings: Audio recordings of all sessions will be available free of charge via NFPA Xchange. What s wrong with this picture? 31
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