As professionals in the fire and life safety industry, we are always pushing for facilities to have their fire doors inspected and repaired. Fire doors are only one piece in a fire protection system, yet play a huge role in a building’s overall fire safety. As you may know by now, there are many parts that go into making a fire door work. So, in order for a fire door to do its job, all of those parts must be properly working together. To guarantee that a fire door’s parts are all working with each other correctly, they must be inspected at least once a year. Making sure they work will guarantee your fire doors will help protect your facility and its occupants. You may be wondering what an annual fire door inspection checklist looks like.
According to NFPA 80, Section 5.2.4 Swinging Doors with Builders Hardware or Fire Door Hardware have 11 inspection steps:
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No open holes or breaks exist in surfaces of either the door or frame.
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Glazing, vision light frames & glazing beads are intact and securely fastened in place, if so equipped.
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The door, frame, hinges, hardware, and noncombustible threshold are secured, aligned, and in working order with no visible signs of damage.
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No parts are missing or broken.
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Door clearances at the door edge of the door frame, on the pull side of the door, do not exceed clearances listed in 4.8.4 (the clearance under the bottom of the door shall be a maximum of 3/4″) and 6.3.1 (top & edges 1/8″).
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The self-closing device is operational; that is, the active door completely closes when operated from the full open position.
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If a coordinator is installed, the inactive leaf closes before the active leaf.
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Latching hardware operates and secures the door when it is in the closed position.
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Auxiliary hardware items that interfere or prohibit operation are not installed on the door or frame.
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No field modifications to the door assembly have been performed that void the label.
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Gasketing and edge seals, where required, are inspected to verify their presence and integrity.
That’s a lot to check, but every part of a fire door is important to you’re building and its occupant’s safety. If one thing isn’t working properly then the whole fire door won’t work properly. Fire doors help prevent the spread of flames and smoke throughout a facility, while allowing occupants a means of egress. If a building’s fire doors aren’t working properly, then you run the risk of property damage and endangering lives.
