Fire doors come in many types, including glass fire doors, stainless steel fire doors, and ordinary steel fire doors. However, the installation methods are basically similar, depending on the specific site conditions. Several common installation parameters must be carefully considered.
The installation of fire doors should follow the appropriate installation method based on the type of fire door used.
The fire door frame can be fixed to the wall with expansion bolts, or iron parts can be embedded in the opening during wall construction and welded to the door frame connectors during installation.
Regardless of the connection method used between the door frame and the wall, there should be at least 3 anchoring points on each side, and they should be securely connected.
When installing fire doors, they should first be straightened and leveled, and temporarily fixed after the dimensions are correct. Correction and adjustment should be performed, and only after verification can the connection and anchoring be completed.
Sliding doors should operate smoothly after installation; hinged doors should open easily and close tightly and securely.
Fire doors must be equipped with door closers, and double doors must have a sequence controller.
Handles, fire locks, and other hardware accessories on the fire door must be complete.
The gap between the door and the ground should not exceed 5mm.
Steel fire doors are moderately priced, but they are heavy, difficult to open, and have a monotonous and unattractive appearance. Therefore, they are mostly used in industrial buildings and general-grade civil buildings, or in areas of buildings where aesthetics are less important and pedestrian traffic is low (such as machine rooms and garages). In contrast, wooden fire doors are lightweight, easy to open and close, and have good decorative appearance and a variety of styles, but they are more expensive. They are mostly used in medium-to-high-grade civil buildings or important areas of buildings. Generally, the maximum opening size suitable for each fire door is approximately: height 3.3m, width – single leaf 1.1m, double leaf 3.0m. In engineering design, in addition to strictly adhering to the specifications regarding the location, position, width, grade, and opening direction of fire doors, the following should also be considered: Fire doors are generally located on evacuation routes (such as stairwells, vestibules, and corridors). Carelessness in the detailed design of the building plan can easily result in the door leaf obstructing the evacuation route after opening, reducing its effective width and violating the basic requirements for personnel evacuation. This phenomenon is particularly prominent at turns in evacuation routes and in high-rise residential buildings, and should be given attention and avoided.
Problems with evacuation exits leading to adjacent zones:
Under certain conditions, when a Class A fire door is provided leading to an adjacent fire compartment, high-rise buildings are permitted to have only one safety exit per compartment. It should be noted that since fire doors can only open in one direction, if two adjacent compartments each have only one safety exit, then two fire doors should be installed on the fire wall, opening in opposite directions, to meet the need for mutual evacuation between the two compartments.
The most commonly used type is the normally closed fire door, whose door leaf remains closed at all times. Personnel manually open it when passing through, and the door leaf closes automatically afterward; installing push-bar hardware further facilitates faster evacuation. However, normally closed fire doors in public passages have the disadvantages of affecting ventilation and lighting, obstructing visibility, and causing inconvenience during normal use. If poorly managed, their door closers and opening/closing hardware are often damaged or malfunction, creating safety hazards. The emergence of normally open fire doors solves these problems. Normally, their door leaves are fixed in the open position by a door holder. In case of fire, the door holder automatically releases, restoring the same function as a normally closed fire door. Due to the added door holder and automatic release system, and sometimes the need for linkage with the automatic fire alarm system, using normally open fire doors will inevitably increase project costs. Current fire safety codes do not mandate a specific opening/closing method for fire doors; designers can choose based on a comprehensive consideration of building standards, the characteristics of the usage environment, the management needs of building users, and economic factors.
