Fine For Propping Open Fire Door

Deliberately propping a fire door open.

Fine for propping open fire door.

But it s not as simple as saying don t wedge that door. 75 plus cost to replace. A common misdemeanour is to prop open a fire door sometimes with a fire extinguisher a double transgression. Wedging open doors can and has caused a chimney effect which causes fire to spread rapidly destroying entire buildings.

Misuse of fire equipment. Wedging or propping open a fire door can prove devastating as it allows fire to spread unchecked putting lives and buildings at risk. Fire doors are an essential part of the fabric of a building and have two important functions in the event of a fire. The problem is that the life safety code requires existing corridor partitions to be fire rated for 1 2 hour the doors you describe sound an awful lot like they would be considered corridor doors and doors required to be fire rated have to have self or automatic closing devices which means propping them open is on the excluded list.

Despite this 64 of premises visited by the fire service have fire doors wedged open. Larger kick plates act as a heat sink. I assumed that this was correct but i have just searched the fire order and cannot find a specific reference to fire doors emergency exit doors yes but not a fire door. So any fire rated door assembly may not be wedged open.

When closed they form a barrier to stop the spread of fire or smoke and when opened they provide a means of escape. Despite this they re still regularly found propped open preventing them from working as they should. That applies to nearly all doors in a hospital. Blocking an exit route.

Damaging or removing safety signs. 75 plus cost to replace. Deliberate damage to a fire door. And to finally address fire rated door assemblies section 8 3 3 1 requires all doors required to have a fire protection rating to comply with nfpa 80 which requires self closing devices on the doors.

But there are some doors that you could. 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. Wedging or propping open a fire door can prove devastating as it allows fire to spread unchecked putting lives and buildings at risk. 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.

150 plus cost to repair or consider further referral. The quote that it actually possible to be prosecuted for wedging open propping open a fire door is interesting. Despite this 64 of premises visited by the fire service have fire doors wedged open. Don t install metal kick plates higher than 16 inches from the bottom of the door.