What is a Fire Door?

Fire Doors are designed to compartmentalize a building, prevent the spread of smoke and fire, and protect egress for a specified amount of time. These doors are rated from 20 minutes up to 3 hours. The door, frame and all components used on that door must be subjected to rigorous fire testing to verify it will perform its function under fire conditions.

Fire-rated doors are required to bear a label that states the protection rating. It is important to remember that a label on a fire door does not mean that the assembly is compliant. If non fire-rated hardware is used it can create a potentially deadly scenario in the event of fire. The rating of the assembly is limited to the component with the lowest fire protection rating. In order for fire doors to work effectively, they must be correctly specified, installed and maintained.