Propped open fire doors.
Fire door propped open.
The answer to your question unfortunately is it depends though i can tell you as a general rule of thumb there are no regulatory surveyors who are going to give you a big thumbs.
All doors in hazardous areas are required to be self closing regardless if the door is fire rated or just smoke resistant.
Aside from possibly rendering the fire door inoperable due to physical damage propping open fire doors will allow products of combustion to migrate into other areas and contribute to the spread and severity of the fire.
Section 3 3 238 of the 2012 lsc defines self closing as a door equipped with an approved device that ensures closing after opening.
The length of time that the door is intended to resist fire.
If we have doors to staff offices and staff kitchen that have an auto closure device but are not fire doors is it allowed to prop them open with a wedge.
To contain fire and smoke.
Occupants may be tempted to prop open fire doors to preclude the need to touch handles.
In the event of a fire it is quite possible that an insurer would be unwilling to pay for damages when a door has been wedged or propped open.
Despite this they re still regularly found propped open preventing them from working as they should.
Wedged or propped open fire doors are a common problem.
This short post seeks to explain why they shouldn t be propped open whilst it also covers a range of other frequently asked questions on the subject.
Each fire rated door sold on the market must include a permanent label showing the following information.
Don t prop open the door with wedges or by bending the closing mechanism.
Holding your fire door open.
However fire doors have a very important purpose preventing the spread of fire so wedging one open is dangerous and illegal.
The door manufacturer whether the opening is equipped with fire exit hardware any temperature rise rating if it is a smoke door assembly and.
The majority of fire doors will hold a fire in a room for 30 minutes by which time the fire rescue service will be on site.
A smoke barrier door that is wedged open will not close by itself.
That makes sense however if you leave the door propped open in sleeping accommodation overnight where fire can spred through compartments and cause fatalities or even a workplace that is not occupied overnight but a fire can travel through the compartment leading to more serious fire damage.
These doors protect stairs labs etc.
Fire doors can be heavy restrict access through buildings and prevent a free flow of air which is why people prop them open.
