Fire doors

Recommendation points

• What are “fire doors”
• How to understand the term “fire resistance” PD
• What materials are used for manufacturing fire-resistant doors
• Where is it recommended to install fire doors
• Design Features of Fire Resistant Door Blocks
• Installation of fire doors
• Standards and documentary support for PD
• How much is a fire door

In this article, we will consider the design features of modern fire-resistant doors, we will figure out by what principles they work, where they are used, how they are mounted and operated. We will pay special attention to norms and standards, certification issues and pricing problems.

The fire statistics unequivocally indicate that the rate of fire spreading becomes the cause of huge material losses, as well as cases of mass death of people. High temperatures quickly deform doors and windows, and they block escape routes and prevent rescuers from quickly doing their job. Toxic combustion products are becoming a huge problem, it is they that easily penetrate through openings, and are the main damaging factor for people in trouble. It turns out that the most important task of modern fire-prevention building structures will be the localization of the fire, maintaining the operability of all doors in the building.

What are “fire doors”

Fire doors (DP) can also be called fire resistant, fire resistant, fire resistant or fire resistant. Further, we will talk directly about doors, although in the construction business this category also includes hatches, windows, gates, curtains, curtains, screens, airlocks …

So, fire doors are considered products that are installed in the openings of building structures and serve to create a fire barrier. The tasks performed by such doors are simple and straightforward:

• do not allow fire and high temperatures to spread between rooms;
• do not let smoke and gaseous combustion products through the doorway;
• prevent the door leaf from jamming in the door frame and preserve the functionality of locks and hardware and fittings.

How to understand the term “fire resistance” PD

Fact: No doors can withstand fire forever. Even special fire-prevention door systems operate for a certain period of time, after which one of the “limit states” appears in the structure. In fact, this is the loss of an important property for us:

1. Integrity (E).
2. Thermal insulation capacity (I).
3. Limitations on the level of heat transfer through glass (W).
4. Smoke and gas tightness (S).

Depending on the time after which any of these critical states occurs, categories of fire doors are distinguished according to the fire resistance limit. Here the letter indices of specific limit states are indicated, and the numbers are the stability time in minutes (usually from 15 to 120). The indicators of integrity and thermal insulation are considered the main ones for certification, therefore, the most common type marking is: EI-30, EI-60. But such options are also possible: EIW-45, EIS-30 or, for example, EIWS-15.

What materials are used for manufacturing fire-resistant doors

In this case, we are talking about the power spatial structure of the doors – boxes and leaves. Oddly enough, there are several options. Immediately, we note that metal-plastic doors (at least for now) cannot be fireproof, which is explained by the low resistance of PVC to high temperatures.

The undisputed leader among various types of products is metal fire doors. The overwhelming majority of PDMs are made of steel rolled metal with a wall thickness of one millimeter. But the developers also achieve quite good results from aluminum doors, although this material has a relatively lower melting point.

Wooden fire doors (DPD) are not a myth. Producers get EI-30 or EI-60 without any problems, but in order for wood to become non-combustible, a number of technological measures must be taken.

Translucent fireproof doors, glass and glazed, differ from each other in the percentage of blank and open door leaf area. Glazed products are products with windows up to 25 percent of the opening area, and glass products with a light opening of more than 25%.

Where is it recommended to install fire doors

Fire doors can be used as external entrance and as internal (interroom, interfloor, technical …), they are installed in residential and public buildings, as well as in production. There is a list of premises that must be protected by fire-resistant doors, in Russia it is contained in SNiP 21-01-97.

Practice shows that the most useful DPs will be where:

• there is a danger of fire (paint shops, chemical laboratories, boiler rooms, kitchens, etc.);
• material values ​​and documents are stored (cash desks, warehouses, archives, funds, etc.);
• important engineering communications and equipment are located (generating, server, switchboard, pumping, etc.);
• fire and smoke are likely to spread (ventilation ducts, elevator shafts, attic openings, passages / corridors, etc.);
• there are a large number of people (hospitals, schools, offices, shops, apartment buildings, etc.);
• pass paths for emergency evacuation (emergency staircases, vestibules, auxiliary exits, etc.).

Recently, there has been a tendency for people to actively begin to install fire doors in apartments and even in private cottages..

Design Features of Fire Resistant Door Blocks

Fireproof models do not have any fundamental differences from conventional door systems. In fact, these are specially modified products, in the design of which special materials and components are used. They can also be single-leaf and double-leafed (identical or multi-sized, active and static), including transoms, glazed, arched. By opening method: hinged, sliding, folding.

The fire resistance of the door block can be combined with other properties useful for doors without any problems. For example, DPs are: high class of burglary resistance, bulletproof, frost-resistant, explosion-proof, shock-resistant …

It is interesting that the finishing of the canvas and the frame does not have to be limited to laconic painting – the PD canvas is often revetted with solid wood, veneer, fire-resistant laminate, artificial leather, MDF panels impregnated with fire retardants. However, powder spraying, which is resistant to high temperatures, is the undisputed leader..

The leaf of metal fire doors is created by sheathing the reinforcing ribs (as a rule, this is a profile pipe) with steel sheets 1–3 mm thick. These sheets are fixed on both sides of the canvas, from the outside, usually the metal is made with an influx of the frame – with a rebate, a fold. In total, the thickness of the sash is rarely less than 50 mm, and with high fire resistance rates, it tends to the mark of 100 mm (naturally, the weight also increases).

Wooden canvases are made either also on a spatial frame from a bar, or from a spliced ​​solid.

Translucent door leaves never consist entirely of glass, there is always a metal frame around the perimeter of the leaf. Large products, as a rule, are divided into sections by an intermediate horizontal profile – an impost. The glass itself, of course, is fire-resistant, its special properties are achieved by using heat-resistant films or special helium fillers located between layers of a complex “cake”. By the way, it can be part of a fire-resistant one- and two-chamber glass unit.

The most important element in the sash of the fire block is the insulator. In this case, foam, expanded polystyrene, cellular cardboard are not suitable. The ideal option for DPM and DPD is mineral wool, which can withstand temperatures under a thousand degrees for a long time. In addition, it interferes with the transfer of heat, which means that it does not allow the canvas to overheat from the inside (in relation to the fire) side. Previously, asbestos was used, but because of its harmful properties they refused.

The PDM frame is made of high-quality welded metal-roll or from a bent profile. For timber fire-resistant doors, both solid / spliced ​​timber frames and curved profiles can be used. All hollow elements of the box, like the canvas, are filled with non-combustible insulating material.

A threshold in one form or another is an integral part of a fire door, even if the product is used as an interior door. There are no problems with entrance structures made of wood or metal, here the threshold is always applied. Internal door blocks are equipped with automatic mortise thresholds, which, being spring loaded, always touch the floor with their seal. For thin glass doors, overhead automatic thresholds are used, since it is impossible to build such elements into the canvas.

The DP threshold is required to provide a complete smoke and gas protection circuit. It also solves other, more traditional tasks: it insulates heat and sound, becomes an obstacle for dust, insects and drafts..

The sealing contour is the element directly entrusted with the functions of sealing the opening in case of fire. Traditionally, two contours are used, which are located either on the canvas or on the edges of the box. There are also three-circuit systems, if the configuration of the frame and sash allows it. A rubber profile tape acts as a working “cold” seal, but in emergency cases thermosetting molded materials work. Thermosetting seal at elevated temperatures during a fire expands and completely “seals” the gaps between the canvas and the box, blocks the spread of smoke, toxic substances, hot air.

A mandatory element of a fire door is a door closer (floor, outdoor, built-in), since only a closed door block will fulfill its function. Moreover, double doors should be equipped with devices that coordinate the order of closing the leaves. The special feature of these accessories, suitable for PD systems, is fire resistance.

As for the fittings, it is also necessary to pay attention to its resistance to high temperatures. Fire-resistant models of locks and handles retain their performance and shape when heated, while conventional products can expand and jam doors. Specialized handles, even if they are made of, say, brass, have a steel core inside that will not melt too quickly.

In wooden DPs, metal fittings are protected by special heat-insulating gaskets, as well as sheet thermosetting materials. So the metal does not heat up and does not burn through the power structure of the door.

A separate item is worth mentioning the well-proven Anti-Panic systems, which greatly simplify the evacuation of a large number of people, even in high smoke conditions..

Installation of fire doors

The DP can be installed both at the edge of the opening, and end-to-end – between two walls. There are no special technical requirements in comparison with conventional designs. Fixation is done through the box or through the mounting plates; anchors or steel pins are used for fastening. But the approach to filling the mounting gaps is more complicated – they are sealed with either concrete or specialized fire-fighting foam.

Attention! In order for fire doors to be accepted by the regulatory authorities, their installation must be carried out by organizations licensed by the Ministry of Emergencies of Russia.

Standards and documentary support for PD

The production of fire doors is carried out on the basis of general “door” GOSTs, relevant for steel, glass, wooden structures. However, in order for the door block to be considered fire-resistant, it must comply with the provisions of the “Technical Regulations on Fire Safety” (Federal Law No. 123 of July 22, 2008). An equally important document regarding the operation of the DP is SNiP 21-01-97 “Fire safety of buildings and structures”.

You can find out about the presence of special fire properties of the door only by the test results, which are carried out in accordance with GOST R 53307-2009 and GOST R 53303-2009.

Fire and smoke tests of the door block are carried out in the laboratory (FGBU VNIIPO EMERCOM of Russia), their essence is simple – the sample is exposed to high temperature and pressure. As soon as one of the limiting states is noticed, then this time is indicated in the marking of the fire resistance level.

Doors are usually tested to obtain a fire safety certificate. By the way, according to the requirements of the “Technical Regulations on Fire Safety” – its presence is mandatory so that the door can be sold as fire-resistant, and the consumer can legally operate the DP in the premises designated in SNiP 21-01-97.

Information about all parameters of a specific fire door is indicated in the product passport (required by GOST 2.601-2006). In the passport, the user can find:

• general information about the product;
• information about certificates;
• specifications;
• completeness;
• requirements for storage, transportation, safety;
• recommendations for installation and operation;
• warranty conditions.

How much is a fire door

We have already said that the DP is, in principle, an ordinary door, only slightly modernized. Obviously, it will cost more than its “cold” counterpart. The general order of prices is as follows – the simplest samples will cost about 10,000 rubles. This is a single-floor design with a small fire resistance limit, while two-floor models in the basic version start from 20 thousand.

It must be understood that the greater the fire resistance limit is required, the more massive and more expensive the door will be:

1. Gas and smoke-tight execution of the DP is plus 1000 rubles to the price tag.
2. Glazing in 25% of the area for another 800-900 rubles will lighten the consumer’s wallet.
3. From 1.5 to 4 thousand you need to pay for a closer.
4. More than 4000 rubles – leaf synchronizer in double-deck systems.
5. 7-10 thousand is the mortise “Anti-panic”.

Naturally, traditional cost increasing algorithms also work for fire-resistant doors. The door block becomes more expensive with: an increase in size, the implementation of unusual geometry (for example, arched), cladding with a “more elite” finish, the use of locks with increased secrecy, the installation of branded accessories, the use of special accessories (forging, linings, bumpers, bumpers, observation devices, ACS …).

It is noteworthy that steel fire doors are often cheaper than wooden and translucent models..