Specifying Fire Door Ironmongery For High-Rise Living

Chris Robinson , Apr 1, 2021 12:00:00 AM


Door hardware is an essential component to your apartment fire door’s performance. Whilst it may vary from door type to door type, it will normally consist of:

  • Hinges
  • Self-Closing Devices
  • Locks or Latches

These elements of door hardware are critical to a fire doorsets performance and must all be CE Marked to ensure compliance with timber fire doorset certification.

These days, the aesthetic and look of your doorsets is just as important as its functionality. High-rise living demands clean-finishes and cutting-edge design. Fortunately, there are ironmongery manufacturers which can provide complete functionality for fire doors, whilst complementing your designs, rather than detracting from them. 

In this post, we explore what you should know about fire door ironmongery as a designer or specifier, and how to make the most out of your essential hardware elements. 

 

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Essential & Non-Essential Ironmongery For Luxury Accommodation

Before you consider the exciting ways that decorative ironmongery can enhance your doorset, it is important to understand the extremely important part that ironmongery plays within a fire doorset.

There's not much room for cutting corners here, essential ironmongery plays a huge role in protecting a building's contents and occupants.

 

Essential Ironmongery For High-Rise Living

The most basic role of essential ironmongery is to hold the fire door in place in the event of a fire.

 

Fire Door For High-Rise Living

 

How Does This Work?

In the event of a fire, the main part of the doorset, known as the door leaf, will begin to burn. If left unchecked, the side exposed to the fire and heat will begin to contract, warping towards the fire, and more importantly, out of the frame.

Door closers, hinges, locks and latches are all considered essential ironmongery. These elements help to hold the door leaf in place until the intumescent strip is activated and expands to seal the door leaf into the frame.

At this time, the ironmongery has served its “essential” purpose allowing the integrity of the manufactured doorset take over. Because of its pivotal role in fire safety, essential ironmongery must carry fire test evidence to demonstrate its suitability for use on fire doors.

The definition of essential ironmongery is ‘items vital to achieving the desired level of performance of a fire door assembly’. These include:

  • Pivots or hinges that attach the door to the frame may also help to stop the door from bowing/warping.

  • Door closing devices, typically an overhead door closer or floor spring ensure the door closes reliably and stays shut.

  • Latches or locks are used to secure the door and prevent unauthorised use.

It is extremely important that compatible products are used and correctly installed along with any fire resistance protection that is needed.

You should also take into account the size and fire rating of the doorset, as more essential ironmongery may be required, the larger the leaf size and the higher the fire rating. 

 

So, When Are Ironmongery Elements Not Required?

As a “rule of thumb” we can split essential ironmongery into two separate doorset categories:

1. “Fire Door, Keep Locked.”

This includes service risers, cleaners’ cupboards, and storerooms where the doorset in question is controlled by a trained operative.

As it says on the label, the doorset must always remain locked unless an authorised person requires passage.

Why is this different?

Well, because the doorset is always locked, there is little chance it will be left open, meaning it is always ready to do its job. It won’t be part of a fire escape route as no doors can be locked if they form a fire escape route and will not, therefore, need a door closer (once considered the most expensive piece of ironmongery on the doorset).

 

2. “Fire Door, Keep Shut.”

This simply includes everything else. These are fire doorsets that are frequently used as passageways between areas, such as offices, corridors and stairwells.

These doorsets will be used by unauthorised people who may not close the door behind them. As it says on the label, the doorset must always be shut and is therefore ready to do its job. It is likely that many of these doors will also form part of the fire escape routes, making the door closer an essential part of the ironmongery.

 

Innovative Ironmongery For High-Rise Living

It's mistakenly believed that ironmongery is simply a functional element of a door. Once this once may have been closer to the truth, these days ironmongery can also play a big part in the design. 

Architects are designing luxury accommodations such as high-rises with more and more focus on cutting-edge design. This is driving suppliers to provide higher quality products with more varied finishes and designs, to fit with this luxury market.

As a result, the once huge demand for satin stainless steel finishes is all but extinct. In its place, bronze finishes and quality hardware that is finer and custom-shaped are on the rise. 

With innovations in finishing options such as Powder Coating or Physical Vapor Deposition, there have never been more options for high-quality fire door ironmongery. 

 

Avoid This Mistake With Fire Door Ironmongery

It is strongly advised that you specify your complete fire doorsets (including hardware) from one manufacturer. This way, the manufacturer is responsible for supplying you with essential CE-marked ironmongery, carefully considered to meet the exact specification of your doorsets.

More importantly, the manufacturer takes responsibility for the certification of the whole doorset with ironmongery and not just the doorset.

Unfortunately, it is far too common for specifiers to get the manufacturer to make the fire door but use a different supplier for the ironmongery.

Usually trying to find a marginally cheaper price, this kind of value engineering leads to:

  • Lack of accountability when issues arise
  • Non-compliant hardware specified for fire doorsets
  • Extra monetary and time costs down the line, in order to fix issues

 

Fire Doors: High Rise Living

Getting the Most Out of Your Ironmongery Design

Fully Concealed Hinges

Whilst they are fashionable, not all concealed hinges are fire certificated and approved. Of those that are, the exposed faces can be finished to match the remaining ironmongery choice.

Full-Height Pull Handles

Again, these are fashionable, but be aware that the distance between the pull handle fixings may invalidate fire certification.

Full Height Push Plates

These correspond with the pull handles but there is a limitation on the area of face plate metal fixed to a door leaf and its location to the door edge. When used with a high kick plate or mid-rail, this area can be exceeded and may invalidate fire certification.

Door Safety Bars or Chains.

We still seek a manufacturer who can provide a safety bar that either doesn’t invalidate the door leaf or requires packing pieces or additional treatment of the fire gap to maintain fire certification. With ironmongery, it can be that complicated.

 

Deciding Upon Your Fire Door Locking System

Of course, security in apartment blocks is crucial. Some would argue even more so than fire protection since break-ins are more common than flat fires.

Given that many apartment blocks don’t have a manned concierge these days, it’s important that your apartment fire door is built with a substantial locking system in place.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that a three-point locking system is the only option for you, particularly when obtaining PAS 24 compliance.

However, a high-performance, quality doorset with a one-point locking system is more than capable of passing the PAS 24 suite of tests, and for design purposes, this is the option we’d recommend.

Three-point locking systems don’t leave much room for creativity, can be incompatible with key fobs (or other forms of access) and are less economical than one-point locking systems.

So, for a contemporary and traditional result, consider a single-point locking system.

 

Considerations For Fire Door Ironmongery Within High-Rise Living

As you can see, there is more to ironmongery than you may first think. Finding the right hardware for a fire door, will depend on the intended function of the doorset. 

Regardless of the intended use, all ironmongery must be CE Marked and tested to ensure performance in the event of a fire. To avoid any issues during specification or installation, it is always recommended to specify ironmongery alongside the fire door with one manufacturer. 

For more information on ironmongery for high-rise living take a look at our page here. 

At RW Joinery, we specialise in the manufacture, installation, and maintenance of fully certified performance doorsets.

If you’d like to discuss fire doorsets or your project in more detail, feel free to talk to an expert today.

From manufacture to installation, partnering with an expert team of fire door specialists, ensures you are assisted from conception to completion.

With RW Maintain you are also covered long after installation, with maintenance & service packages which cover all your new and existing doorsets for regular inspections and further repairs and replacements in the event of damage.

Speak to an expert today, we are always happy to help or answer any questions. Simply fill out the form below or call us on 0161 480 8722.

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