Fire Doors – Drop Testing

If you have rolling or sliding fire doors within your place of business, code set forth by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) requires that you have these doors assessed and tested annually. For fire door drop testing that you can count on—and for assistance in maintaining your fire doors to regulation—our team at Preferred Window & Door can help.

National Fire Protection Association Fire Door Standards

The NFPA has set forth strict requirements outlying standards for fire doors and other opening protectives. Found in NFPA 80, doors that are included within the standard are:

• Swinging doors
• Horizontally sliding doors
• Vertically sliding fire doors
• Rolling steel doors
• Fire shutters
• Service counter fire doors
• Hoist way doors for elevators and dumbwaiters
• Chute doors
• Access doors
• Fire windows
• Glass block assembles
• Fire dampers
• Fabric fire safety curtains

A trained and certified physician must complete the inspection of all fire doors and other protective openings. Furthermore, businesses must maintain documentation of all annual fire door inspections.

Fire Door and Drop Testing

One of the most important parts of fire door safety is drop testing. Our professional team is ready to tackle both. During fire door testing, our services include:

• Ensuring proper system installation – ranging from the use of proper bolts to expansion clearance.
• Double-checking for missing and outdated parts – which could lead to failure of the system later on.
• Assessing additional equipment – such as fire detection systems, operational efficiency, etc.

Once the above have been tested, drop testing will be initiated. Drop testing cannot begin until all systems named above are in working order. Drop testing assesses the speed and efficiency with which doors are dropped in the event of a fire, contributing to safety.

When we drop test your fire doors, we promise to ensure that the speed of the curtain during the fall meets NFPA 80 standards (at least six inches per second but not more than 24 inches per second). We will also test the door more than once (regulations require drop doors to be tested at least twice – the first test to check for full closure, the second test to verify that the automatic closing device has been correctly reset), and will reset the fire door upon completion. If your fire doors are not dropping as they should per regulations, we will find and correct the problem.

After Fire Door & Drop Testing is Complete

If your fire doors are all up to code, we will provide you with a written inspection document detailing our report and stating that your doors meet standards. We will also keep a copy of the inspection in the event that your copy is misplaced or damaged.