Understanding Fire-Rated Doors

Posted Saturday, March 12th, 2016

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Fire-rated doors and frames play a vital role in minimizing property damage during a fire as well as keeping people safe. There are multiple components of a door that can be rated to withstand fire for a specified amount of time. Some of these include: doors, doorframes, window frames, hardware, transoms, sidelights and glazing.

Understanding Fire-Rated Doors

To help you understand which door is best suited to protect your property and people from fire damage, it is important to note three main fire door identifiers. These are rated, listed or approved and labeled.

Rated

Products that have been approved to withstand fire for a specified period of time are rated.

Listed or Approved

Products that have been fire tested and approved through proper listing agencies like the NFPA, National Fire Protection Association.

Labeled

Products that physically bear a fire-rating label from an approved agency.

Requirements

To further your understanding, we have identified a list of requirements for fire-rated doors.

  1. Fire ratings are given by third-party testing agencies and fire rated doors carry a label with the specified rating.
  2. All fire-rated doors must meet the minimum standards of the International Building and International Fire Codes as well as the NFPA 80.
  3. Building codes dictate the fire rating requirements for the walls inside the building. Each wall requirement will dictate the doors fire-rating requirements. This can depend on the walls location, building use, etc.
  4. Fire doors are required to be self closing and positive latching. This means that the door must securely latch upon closing without any additional special action.

Fire Door Assembly Ratings

Finally, it is prudent to familiarize yourself with Fire Door Assembly Ratings. This is the amount of time a door and its frame and/or hardware has been tested and proved to withstand a fire.

There are 5 ratings total: 20 minutes, 45 minutes, 1 hour, 1.5 hours and 3 hours.

Cressy Door and Fireplace has a team of certified sales managers and technicians who can assist you with the specifications and installation of your fire-rated doors. Give us a call or send us an email, and one of our team members will be delighted to answer your questions.