Fire Door - Annual Inspection

Annual Inspection

In the United States, the NFPA requires annual inspections of fire-resistance rated door and frame assemblies. Local Authorities Having Jurisdiction must adopt the new edition for this requirement to take effect. Most jurisdictions in the US will be adopting the IBC (International Building Code) model code, which references the NFPA 80 2007 edition requirement, as their local codes.

NFPA 80 5.2.4.requires the following items shall be verified, at minimum:

  1. No open holes or breaks exist in surfaces of either the door or frame.
  2. Glazing, vision light frames & glazing beads are intact and securely fastened in place, if so equipped.
  3. The door, frame, hinges, hardware, and noncombustible threshold are secured, aligned, and in working order with no visible signs of damage.
  4. No parts are missing or broken.
  5. 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")
  6. The self-closing device is operational; that is, the active door completely closes when operated from the full open position.
  7. If a coordinator is installed, the inactive leaf closes before the active leaf.
  8. Latching hardware operates and secure the door when it is in the closed position.
  9. Auxiliary hardware items that interfere or prohibit operation are not installed on the door or frame.
  10. No field modifications to the door assembly have been performed that void the label.
  11. Gasketing and edge seals, where required, are inspected to verify their presence and integrity.

According to building and fire codes, annual fire door inspections is the responsibility of the building owner. However, as with other mandatory fire inspections, such as the inspection of fire dampers, the fire door inspections are often omitted and many facilities are out of compliance.

The final say on the acceptance of any inspection requires the approval of the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction).

Read more about this topic:  Fire Door

Famous quotes containing the words annual and/or inspection:

    “Every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the publick interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it.... He intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.”
    —Adam Smith (1723–1790)

    “Utopias are presented for our inspection as a critique of the human state. If they are to be treated as anything but trivial exercises of the imagination. I suggest there is a simple test we can apply.... We must forget the whole paraphernalia of social description, demonstration, expostulation, approbation, condemnation. We have to say to ourselves, “How would I myself live in this proposed society? How long would it be before I went stark staring mad?””
    —William Golding (b. 1911)