One of the most important parts of the fire safety infrastructure in a building may be the fire-rated doors that help to contain the spread of flames throughout the property, in the event of a fire. If you live in an apartment with a fire rated apartment door, you may be asked to provide access to your apartment annually so that your door can be checked for compliance. Please familiarise yourself with the following information in preparation for a fire-rated door inspection.
 

What does a fire-rated door do?

 

The front door to each apartment may be a fire-rated door and its purpose is to help prevent fire from entering your apartment, or escaping your apartment if the fire has originated there. The fire rating is typically 120 minutes, which means the doors should be able to prevent the spread of fire for at least 120 minutes.
 

Why does my apartment door need to be inspected if it is fire-rated?

 

The fire agents need to undertake a visual inspection of the doors every 6 to 12 months to ensure their fire rating has not been compromised.

 

Some of the main items that they are inspecting are:

 

• Making sure any locks /or spy holes have been fitted to standard.

• Checking that the door closer is functioning properly.

• Reviewing the stamp (every fire door must be stamped with a door tag that indicates its compliance).

• Ensuring that there are no incorrect installations to the door.

• Making sure the door has not been trimmed down, leaving non-compliant gaps between the door and the frame or floor.

 

You are required to provide access:

 

It is very important that you provide access for this testing to be undertaken. Failing to provide access on the day will result in the inspection not being completed. Additional charges will apply for the fire agent to return on another date, and this will be at your own cost. If the fire agent does not inspect your door, it may mean that your door is not compliant will remain that way until the next scheduled inspection.
What if you can’t provide access on the scheduled date? We suggest that you leave a key with one of your neighbours and ask that they provide the access on your behalf.
 

Do you want to make changes to your door?

Any alterations made to the fire door, especially the installation of a spy hole, can breach the fire rating of the door. Therefore, all alterations must be approved by the Strata Company prior to proceeding with installation.

 

Should you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact our office.