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Article: The door to fire safety. (fire doors; building security and life safety) (Fire Safety)
- Article from:
- Security Management
- Article date:
- October 1, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 American Society for Industrial Security. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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WHEN IT COMES to fire doors, building security and life safety may operate at cross-purposes. An awareness of building code and fire labeling requirements helps in designing a security system that maintains fire-labeled door integrity.
A fire-labeled door is only effective if all elements of the door system are in place and operating properly. This requires the door's latching to withstand the labeled fire exposure. If a fire door is held open mechanically, if the latches are not engaged, or if a pair of doors closes in the wrong order, the door may not stop a fire from spreading. The best intentions in specifying and installing the correct systems are often foiled ...