Top 5 Common Issues Found In Fire Door Inspections
Within any fire strategy, there will be a large section about fire doors because they’re one of the best products on the market for protecting your buildings and are also a legal obligation. Within most buildings, you will need to have fire doors installed and on top of that, you’ll need to maintain them properly so they work efficiently at all times.
Unfortunately, we see many cases where fire doors have been neglected over long periods of time so when we come and do inspections, we see a list of common issues that we find.
In this blog, we will go through the five most common issues found in fire door inspections and offer advice on how to prevent them.
If you’d like to know more about how we can help you with fire door installation or servicing, please get in touch at 0151 355 9232.
The most common issues found in inspections highlighted in this blog post include;-
- Missing or damaged intumescent strips
- Clearance and gaps in the door
- Damaged or imperfect door hardware
- Signage and labelling
- Inadequate maintenance
Missing or damaged intumescent strips
Intumescent strips play a vital role in the frame of a fire door and they must be functional at all times. Intumescent strips are specially designed to expand when exposed to various levels of heat. This is important when a fire is present because the strip acts as a barrier between safety and all the fire, smoke and toxic gases that will be whirling around. Unfortunately, these strips are often found missing or damaged during inspections.
Over time, wear and tear, exposure to environmental factors, or improper installation can compromise the integrity of these strips. This neglect can be devastating and the solution is pretty simple. Regular inspections and examining the condition of the intumescent strips is imperative to identify all issues and replace them so the fire door can function to full operation.
Clearance and gaps in the door
Having the correct amount of space and gaps around your fire door(s) is really important. JST Construction often see fire doors scraping against the floor which creates friction and therefore frayed carpet, cracked tiles or chipped wooden flooring. These gaps and cracks create pockets of space for fire to creep into. We also see inadequate clearances that compromise the ability of the door to open and close securely. The clearance around a fire door should comply with local building codes and standards.
When performing fire door checks and inspections, be sure to make measurements around the gaps and clearances to ensure they’re okay. You’ll be able to tell if something is wrong in this way because often the door will be off slightly, or it’ll squeak or drag slightly when using it. Adjustments or repairs may be necessary to bring doors into compliance.
Damaged or imperfect door hardware
Fire doors come with various bits of hardware that help the functionality of the door. This includes things like closers, hinges, latching mechanisms, handles and more. During inspections, it is not uncommon to find damaged or improperly functioning hardware that could hinder the door’s ability to close and latch securely. This, of course, isn’t ideal because similar to other parts not working, the leaking of fire, smoke or gas could be catastrophic.
Even from a non-fire related perspective, you need your hardware to be intact so that the door can do its job and close securely, otherwise it becomes a safety concern in multiple ways. Regular maintenance and prompt replacement of damaged hardware are essential to guarantee that fire doors operate as intended during an emergency. When we do inspections for companies and organisations, we always go through the ins and outs of what to look for so you can do it weekly.
Signage and labelling
By law, you must have proper signage and labelling on your fire door so that anyone can quickly identify that the door is in fact a fire door. However, inspections often reveal missing or non-compliant signage. Labels indicating the door’s fire rating and instructions on how to operate the door during an emergency are sometimes not there or peeling off or faint so you can’t read it. JST Construction urge you all to check your signage because it’s the best way of guiding people in desperate times, people take in what’s around them for help.
Inadequate maintenance
The fifth most common fire door issue we find when performing inspections is signs that there hasn’t been much done in relation to maintenance. Regular maintenance is one of the best ways of keeping your fire doors in good shape. Scheduling time in your diaries in advance is usually the best way of making sure it gets done. We can tell whether maintenance has been done or not because clues like a build up of dust and dirt, rusty components, fading signage and more will give the game away. Ensure you adopt a proactive approach that not only ensures compliance with safety regulations but also enhances the overall effectiveness of your fire doors.
Contact JST Construction
To conclude, we hope this blog has helped you to explore the five most common issues we find with fire doors when doing inspections. Fire doors are a vital component of a building’s safety infrastructure, and their proper function can mean the difference between life and fatalities during a fire. We seriously recommend scheduling in regular inspections to ensure proper working order and cosmetic perfection too.
By addressing missing or damaged intumescent strips, correcting clearances and gaps, checking hardware, having proper signage, and doing routine maintenance you will enhance the reliability of your fire doors and contribute to the overall safety of the building. If you would like more information on fire door inspections please get in touch with our team here at JST Construction because we are the professionals in this field.
Simply get in touch with our by calling us on 0151 355 9232, or use the contact form on our website and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.