When a fire breaks out in a building, a fire compartmentation system will help contain it. This includes walls, ceilings, floors and doors. A fire compartment system could consist of a room, a collection of rooms or a corridor. A single block of apartments is one example of fire compartmentation. These compartments should only be accessible via a high-quality fire door kept in good condition.
Fire door compliance helps keep people from other areas of the building safe when they evacuate. Here is how different types of fire doors work.
FD30 vs. FD60 doors
Two main types of fire doors include FD30 and FD60 doors. The main difference between them is the amount of time it will take for a fire to move past the door. These doors aren’t capable of preventing a fire from spreading indefinitely; however, they will buy people time so that they can safely evacuate the building.
FD30 doors are specially made to withstand fire for a total of 30 minutes. As you might expect, FD60 doors can prevent the spread of fire for a full hour. Which door you select depends on the size and layout of the building. In some cases, one may be more suitable than the other.
If an S appears following the door’s numbers, this means the door is engineered to prevent the spread of cold smoke as well. This is done via smoke brushes and intumescent strips.
Which fire doors you should use
Another component of fire door compliance is ensuring that they’re placed properly in a building. To give an example, a large office building housing hundreds of people would benefit more from FD60 fire doors, as this would provide a full 60 minutes for everyone to evacuate.
A smaller building with only two floors wouldn’t have as much need for doors graded to provide an hour’s worth of evacuation time. In these cases, FD30 doors would work, providing adequate time for all the occupants to evacuate.
What intumescent seals are and how they work
Regardless of which fire door you choose, the weakest point is going to be the gap between the door and the frame. This makes intumescent seals critical for the fire door to function properly. These seals can prevent the spread of smoke and fire for an hour, depending on the type of fire door.
Fire seals will prevent the spread of fire only. The seal expands when exposed to heat and closes any gaps between the frame and the door. Some smoke will leak through, though not as much as it would without the seal and fire door. Fire and smoke seals will prevent the spread of both.
We hope this provides an answer as to which different types of fire doors are right for your building. At Affordable Dock & Door, we take pride in the quality of products and aim to provide every commercial and residential customer with a solution that fits in terms of function, aesthetics and budget. Give us a call today to learn more.