Fire rated doors

Fire rated doors in the UAE

A fire rated door is a complete door set, leaf, frame, hardware, seals and glazing, that has been tested to hold back fire and smoke for a stated time. In the UAE, Dubai Civil Defence requires fire rated doors on apartment entrances, stair and corridor doors, plant rooms, kitchens in commercial buildings and many other locations set out in the UAE Fire and Life Safety Code. The rating is for the whole assembly as tested; a fire rated leaf hung in an untested frame with the wrong hinges is not a fire rated door.

60, 90 and 120 minute door sets

We supply fire rated door sets tested to BS 476 Part 22 in 60, 90 and 120 minute ratings, supplied with the Dubai Civil Defence certificate and stamp that building management and consultants ask for. Sixty minute doors are the usual requirement for apartment entrances and most internal fire compartment doors. Ninety and 120 minute doors are specified for plant rooms, stair enclosures and where the consultant's fire strategy calls for them. Each rating has its own page with the specification and the typical uses.

Fire rated wooden doors that look like your other doors

The common assumption is that a fire door has to look like an office door. It does not. We make fire rated wooden doors with walnut, oak and other veneers, with lacquer and paint finishes, flush or with grooves, with vision panels in fire rated glass, and with hidden door detailing on request. An apartment entrance in a Dubai tower can carry a 60 minute rating and still match the walnut doors inside the apartment. The rating comes from the tested core, the intumescent seals, the certified hinges, the closer and the frame, not from the face.

What a fire rated door set includes

The leaf, built on a tested fire rated core. The frame, timber or steel as tested. Intumescent seals in the frame or the leaf edge, which expand in heat to seal the gap, usually combined with smoke seals. Certified hinges, a certified closer so the door self closes, a certified lock and lever, and fire rated glass with its own tested beading where a vision panel is required. Every component is listed on the certificate, which is why we supply the full set rather than the leaf alone.

Fire rated door requirements and approvals

Dubai Civil Defence approval is obtained for the door system by the manufacturer; the building's consultant checks that the doors installed match the approved system and rating, and the certificate travels with the doors. For apartment owners, the building management will usually ask for the certificate before and after installation. We provide the certificate, the test reference and the installation in one package. For fit out contractors and developers, we supply schedules of fire rated doors to the consultant's door schedule, with the certificates for the submission.

Fire rated main doors and pivot doors

A fire rating is not limited to plain corridor doors. We make fire rated main entrance doors for villas and apartments, and fire rated pivot doors, as complete certified sets: the oversized leaf is built on a fire core with the pivot hardware, closer and seals that were tested with it, and the face is finished in the same veneer or paint as any other door in the house. Where a building's approval calls for a rated apartment entrance, or a villa needs a rated door between the garage and the hall, the door can still be the statement piece.

Timber or steel

Fire rated door sets come in timber and in steel. Timber sets, on a mineral or composite fire core with a veneer, laminate or painted face, go where the door is seen and lived with: apartment entrances, hotel rooms, offices, corridors and villas. Steel sets, a galvanised leaf with a mineral core in a pressed steel frame, powder coated in any colour, go to plant rooms, electrical and pump rooms, car park stair cores and service areas where the rating is high and the look does not matter. Both come as complete certified sets with the Dubai Civil Defence certificate and stamp, and most projects use both.

What moves the price

The rating first, because a 120 minute set carries a denser core, heavier seals and heavier hardware than a 60. Then size, pairs and oversized leaves, the material and face finish, and extras such as closers, panic bars and vision panels. We quote from the door schedule so every opening carries the right rating and nothing is over specified.

Where fire rated doors are needed

Apartment entrance doors in towers. Doors onto escape stairs and corridors. Plant rooms, electrical rooms and pump rooms. Commercial kitchens, back of house doors in restaurants and hotels, store rooms, and doors between a garage and a villa. If you are not sure whether a door needs a rating, send us the location and the building type and we will tell you what the code expects.