Fire Door Opening Force

Opening force for fire doors part 1 i got an email today about a fire rated door that would not reliably close with the closer adjusted to provide 5 pounds of opening force.

Fire door opening force.

This standard regulates the installation and maintenance of assemblies and devices used to protect openings in walls floors and ceilings against the spread of fire and smoke within into or out of buildings. A 1 1 see annex k for general information about fire doors. 2 hand activated door opening hardware shall be centered between 30 inches and 44 inches above the floor. I did a post on opening force for accessibility a while back but it s important to note that fire rated doors are not required to open with 5 pounds of force.

While fire doors are not required to open with 5 pounds of force the maximum opening force for all egress doors including fire doors and exterior doors is addressed in the international building code. These forces do not apply to the force required to retract latch bolts or disengage other devices that hold the door in a closed position. Be 1010 1 3 door opening force the force for pushing or pulling open interior swinging egress doors other than fire doors shall not exceed 5 pounds 22 n. 1 1 1 with the exception of fabric fire safety curtain assemblies this standard addresses assemblies that have.

Please come back again later. 1 panic hardware shall cause the door latch to release when a force not exceeding 15 pounds is applied to the releasing device in the direction of exit traffic. Fire doors must only be fitted with door hardware fire rated in accordance with as1905 1 fire door locks must be self latching and are not permitted to have a hold open feature. It is an offence to prop open or otherwise interfere with the automatic closing action of a fire door.