Why Smoke Seals Matter
Fire-rated doors are usually required in commercial buildings to meet local building codes. These doors provide protection to building occupants and can offer the safety that’s needed in a fire emergency.
But not all fire doors have the same components, and each part of the assembly — the door, frame, hardware and glazing — needs to be tested to meet fire requirements in local jurisdictions. “These components are not typically required to be supplied by the same manufacturer—in most cases, they can be separate products which are listed, labeled, or classified for use in a fire door assembly,” writes Lori Green for Construction Specifier.
Each component of a fire door is important when it comes to building code, especially when it comes to preventing the infiltration of smoke. “For fire doors and smoke doors in certain locations, the limit for air infiltration is 0.02 m3/(s • m2) or less as tested at a pressure of 0.02 kPa … for most door sizes, this cannot be achieved without smoke gasketing,” explains Green.
Smoke gaskets or seals in a fire door design will help to meet these requirements, but the benefits of a well-sealed fire safety system go beyond meeting building code.
Benefits of Smoke Seals
Fire doors are among several solutions that provide the gasket system needed to meet building code for air infiltration. Doors can help manage the flow of traffic in a building and provide emergency teams with an exit route.
But sometimes fire doors aren’t an option in your design. There are alternate fire and smoke protection products that offer protection from smoke and air infiltration throughout different parts of a building.
Each of these products has different code requirements. Green explains further: “The requirements for smoke doors and fire doors depend on where they are used. For example, smoke barriers, smoke partitions, exit enclosures, and corridors all have varying requirements for smoke and fire resistance, and the applicable code sections must be consulted to see if a limit on air infiltration is established.”
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