BILCO TECHNICAL BULLETIN

The Bilco Company, a Performance Criteria for a world leader in the design and manufacture of spe- cialty access products, is Floor Fire Door pleased to offer a series of technical bulletins de- Flush-mounted floor doors are widely used in buildings for access between floors. signed to address issues As fire protection standards become more stringent, code officials and specifiers related to access prod- have identified the need for a floor door with a fire rating that matches the floor- ucts within the construc- ceiling assembly. This bulletin examines the product performance criteria for this tion industry. demanding application.

Vertical fire doors are Penetrations in floor-ceil- common place in modern ing assemblies must perform building construction. De- (in a fire protection sense) as signed for fire protection of well as the rated deck to en- Stairwell openings in wall systems, sure containment of the fire. or Elevator these doors are generally Since the door is flush Shaft tested in accordance with mounted in the floor, it is not ASTM E152 (NFPA 252) reasonable to assume that and are UL Listed. Essen- combustible items will not be tially, vertical fire doors located near or stored directly serve only to block the pas- on the door. Heat transmis- sage of flames between lat- sion becomes a critical issue. 1&1/2-Hr Vertical Fire Doors eral compartments or rooms For this reason, the floor fire 2-Hr Walls within the building. door must meet a signifi- 2-Hr Floor/Ceiling Assembly A questionable area ex- cantly higher performance ists in that if combustibles standard than its vertical ASTM E152 ASTM E119 (ie: furniture, drapery, sup- counterpart. NFPA252 NFPA251 plies, or even a person’s clothing) were to be stored up Therefore ASTM E152 Fire Test of Door Assem- Fire Test of Floor-Ceiling against, or were to come in (NFPA 252) , the vertical fire blies in Wall Systems Assemblies contact with a vertical door door standard, is not appro- Test Specimen Mounted Test Specimen Mounted Vertically Horizontally during a fire, heat radiation priate for floor fire doors. To alone through the door could be effective, the floor fire Heat Transmission Not Heat Transmission cause such items to ignite, al- door must conform to ASTM Considered -Only Critical ... (250OF average Distortion Limits above ambient, 325OF lowing the fire to spread from E119 (NFPA 251). maximum above ambient room to room. ASTM E152 at a single thermocouple) (NFPA 252) assumes that no No Live Load Require Tested Under Maximum combustibles will be stored What to ment Live Load Expected against a vertical fire door, look for . . . allowing it to carry a lesser Doors May Carry Lesser Penetrations Must Rating than Wall System Maintain Heat Transmis- rating than the wall system in • UL Listed (It is assumed that no sion Performance of which it is installed. combustibles will be Floor-Ceiling Assembly Since fire will aggres- • Tested in stored against vertical fire (To prevent ignition of sively seek an upward (as accordance with doors) combustibles on the ASTM E119 topside) opposed to lateral) path within a building, a poten- • Limits on Heat Test Will Evaluate: Test Will Evaluate: Transmission - Structural Integrity - Structural Integrity tially more vulnerable condi- - Thermal Protection tion is created when the floor- • Automatic Closing As the diagram illustrates, when a fire penetrates a vertical fire door into a ceiling assembly is pen- and Self-Latching stairwell or elevator shaft, the fire would need to breach another fire door etrated to allow for necessary to endanger another floor. Conversely, if a fire penetrates a floor-mounted • Smooth, fire door, two floors are immediately endangered. Thus the severity of the access to the floor above or Easy Operation E119 test is demanded when evaluating a floor fire door. below. © 1994, The Bilco Company