Exit Doors and Fire Doors

Exit Door vs. Fire Door

Both exit doors and fire doors are designed to protect occupants during an emergency, but since they serve distinct life safety purposes, they are assessed differently during an inspection. Exit doors are inspected for egress function, while fire doors are inspected for fire-resistance and containment integrity. Exit doors should remain unlocked and readily openable when the building is occupied, while fire doors should automatically close and latch during a fire.

Some doors serve as both exit doors and fire doors, while others serve only one of these functions. For example, a fire door for an exit stairwell serves both functions, while a fire door between two storage rooms is not an exit door. The hotel inspection video includes a fire door leading to the exit stairwell, as well as various types of exit doors along the means of egress.

Exit Doors

An exit door is an exterior door or a door leading into a fire-resistive stairwell or passageway along the means of egress. Exit doors should be installed and maintained to provide occupants with a continuous, unobstructed path of travel to a safe area through the exit discharge. A clear indication of an exit door is the presence of an exit sign installed above it.

Some buildings may lack exit signage. In those cases, inspectors should identify the designated means of egress using their best judgment and any posted emergency evacuation maps. Lack of exit signs and emergency lighting is a deficiency that should be documented in the inspection report.

The baseline inspection scope for exit doors from Section 6 includes:

• Verify exit doors are functional in an emergency and if they swing in the direction of egress travel.
• Determine whether, at the time of the inspection, stored materials are obstructing or potentially obstructing access to exit doors.

Additional ComSOP reporting recommendations for exit doors from the Appendix include documenting:

• Exit doors with less than 32 inches (81 cm) of clear width.
• The absence of signs over lockable exit doors stating, “This Door Must Remain Unlocked During Business Hours.”
• Exit doors that are locked from the inside, chained, bolted, barred, latched, or otherwise rendered unusable at the time of the inspection.
• The absence of exit signage or emergency lighting, or conditions indicating they are aged or damaged.

Exit doors are a critical part of a fire and life safety inspection. Take the Inspecting Commercial Fire and Life Safety Systems Online Course to learn the complete inspection scope and the technical aspects of other active and passive fire protection elements.

Fire Doors

A fire door, also referred to as a fire separation door, is a fire-rated door designed to delay the spread of fire within a building. It is a form of passive fire protection that withstands and contains flames and heat for a specified period, providing occupants and emergency responders time to safely evacuate.

Unlike exit doors, fire doors are designed to close during a fire. Following the baseline scope of the ComSOP, inspectors should check for doors that appear to be blocked or wedged open or that do not automatically close and latch. A clear indication that a door is fire-rated is the presence of a permanent certification label on the door or frame. Doors that cannot properly close and latch cannot effectively compartmentalize smoke and fire during an emergency and should be documented in the inspection report.

The ComSOP establishes a baseline visual inspection scope for fire doors. Inspectors who want to provide more comprehensive fire door inspections need additional training and procedures. Take the Fire Door Inspection Online Course to learn how to inspect swinging, sliding, and rolling fire doors, including:

• Assessing hardware
• Performing visual inspections
• Performing operational checks and simulations (drop tests)
• Conducting drop tests where applicable
• Using life safety drawings, fire door identifiers, and reporting schedules

Additional Resources for Commercial Property Inspections:

• • Fire Door Inspection Reporter
  • Swinging Fire Door Inspection Checklist
  • What Is a Means of Egress?
  • Inspecting for Exit Signs and Emergency Lighting at Commercial Buildings
  • Exit Stairwells: Safety-Grade Luminescent Tape