Fire safety is a very important part of maintaining a large commercial building like a hospital. Often times a door may still be structurally sound but still fail fire inspections. Consider this list of the Top 5 reasons hospital doors may not meet fire code compliance the next time the fire marshall comes to your building for its routine check-up.
1. Doors won’t close
If a door won’t close, it is not fire code compliant. It is of the utmost importance that your doors are able to securely close as this division between rooms is what will keep a fire from spreading. Take time to check your doors to see if they all close correctly, if not, your doors are not up to code.
2. Doors don’t latch
If a door closes but does not latch, it is not fire code compliant. A door that doesn’t latch can be easily pushed open and is not safe. This is something fire marshals will look for when checking if your hospital is up to code. Luckily, doors not latching is a relatively simple fix.
3. Holes in doors
If there are holes in your doors, either from rust or being drilled into, they will fail a fire inspection. A surprising amount of doors have this type of damage to them so make sure you go around to all your thresholds, checking to see if the doors have any serious surface damage.
4. Doors wedged open
A fire door with a wedge stop holding it open might be convenient, but it is not fire code compliant. If you see doors wedged open, remove whatever is keeping them from closing or you may fail your next fire code inspection
5. Doors propped open with hospital equipment
Similar to a door that is wedged open, if a fire marshal sees a door propped open with hospital equipment, he or she will mark that opening down as failing its fire code inspection. Remember to tell your employees and patrons to not prop doors open, as the consequences of a fire spreading from room to room because a door cannot close are dire.
Recent Comments