Legislation in Europe

There are 2 main groups of products.

(1) In Europe the situation in the year 2020 regarding the fire rated doors FOR INTERIORS OF THE BUILDINGS is unchanged, so the production or importation and sale of fire doors in each state is regulated differently because the rules are still dictated by the national laws of each single state.

(2) For the fire rated doors FOR THE EXTERIORS OF THE BUILDINGS AND FOR THE SLIDING AND HINGED INDUSTRIAL GATES the situation changed when in date 1st November 2019 the standard EN 16034 was introduced, it means these products have now to be CE marked and can liberally be exported/impoted within the European states. Beside the CE marking the producer has to issue the DoP (Declaration of Performance) and submit installation instructions in the language of the importation state. The EN 16034 standard refers to other sub-standards of product or procedure of which the most important are the EN 1634 – EN 13501 – EN 1363 – EN 12400 – EN 12217 – EN 12433 – EN 12453 – EN 14600 – EN 14351 – EN 15269.

Although the fire rated doors for interiors are the majority of the quantity and value of manufactured doors in the field of fire doors, it is not known yet when also for them the CE marking will be introduced and get compulsory in Europe becoming exchangeable within the European States. Many years this step was anounced but indeed always postponed for various reasons and stilli t is.

In view of its potential introduction  and also because the European Standard is quite similar to the actual Italian UNI 9723 let’s recap the main prescriptions of the standard EN 1634 concerning the fire resistance test.

These regulations will be valid for all countries of the European Union and members of the EEA (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein).

The standard is used together with standard EN 1363-1 (fire resistance tests, general regulations). The test equipment used must also meet the specifications contained therein.

The doors subject to fire testing must satisfy integrity criteria such as the absence of fractures or gaps exceeding specific dimensions, insulation criteria as specified below and irradiation which, for I2 insulation, will be considered as met for the same period as the insulation withstand.

Clearances between leaf and frame must be adjusted to between the average and the maximum values.

Before fire testing takes place, the doors must undergo and withstand the mechanical aging tests stipulated by product standard EN 1191, for example repeated slamming and durability tests.

In case of test El2 (adopted in Italy) the test thermocouples placed on the leaf must not exceed a maximum temperature increase of 180°C, an average of 140°C and, for those placed on the frame, 360°C.

Scope of direct application of the test results for category “B”, i.e. for 60-minute doors that have resisted at least 68 minutes and 120-minute doors that have resisted at least 132 minutes: increases up to 15% in height and width or 20% in area, reductions of up to 25% in height and 50% in width. Modifications to the accessories are allowed provided they have been tested on another door of similar configuration.

Anchorages and reinforcements can only be increased, not decreased. Ornamental finishings may be applied to a maximum thickness of 1.5 millimetres.

Test results for doors with insulated leaves and metallic frames may not be transferred to partitions of a different nature.

Clients or other interested people are kindly requested to contact us if they want to have more details about it.

Endoors srl. is member of the Italian association of fire doors producers and is therefore constantly informed about the development of the related standards and laws.

Let’s recap also the main parts of the standard EN 16034 introduced in date 1st November 2019 for fire rated doors on exteriors and industrial gates.
Scope, general and exclusions. Normative references. Terms and definitions. Performance characteristics related to fire resistance for fire compartmentation uses E/I and/or smoke control for applications where limitation of smoke spread is required, ability and durability to release, self closing and its durability, interchangeability of hardware and components, mechanical aspects of industrial, commercial and/or garage doorsets and gates, local heat or smoke detectors, power operation of doorsets or openable windows. Classification and designation. Instructions for installation, operation and maintenance. Evaluation of conformity. Initial and type testing (ITT), test samples, testing and compliance criteria, test reports. Factory production control (FPC),general requirements of equipment, testing, manufacturing, raw materials and components, design process, traceability and marking, controls during manufacturing process, product testing and evaluation, non-complying products, corrective action, handling, storage and packaging, product specific requirements, initial inspection of factory and of FPC, continuous surveillance of FPC, procedure for modification of the product, one-off products and pre-production products (e.g. prototypes). Cascading ITT and factory production control FPC, licenser, licensee, requirements of cascading ITT and FPC, labeling and marking.

ANNEX A – Interdependence between characteristics and components.
ANNEX B – Form for designation and classification of fire resistance and/or smoke control performances.
ANNEX C – Inspection and maintenance.
ANNEX D – Direct and extended application.
ANNEX E – Interchangeability of building hardware – Hardware performance sheet (HPS).
ANNEX F – Durablity.
ANNEX ZA – Clauses of this European Standard addressing the previsions of the EU Construction Products Directive. ZA.1 – Scope and relevant characteristics. ZA.2 – Procedure for attestation of conformity of doorsets and openable windows with fire resisting and/or smoke control characteristics. ZA.2.1 – System(s) of attestation of conformity. ZA.2.2 – EC Certificate and Declaration of conformity. ZA.3 – CE marking and labeling.
ANNEX ZB – Relationship of this European Standard and the Essential Requirements of EU Directive 2006/42/EC.
ANNEX ZC – Relationship of this European Standard and the Essential Requirements of EU Directive 2004/108/EC.
ANNEX ZD – Relationship between this European Standard and the Essential Requirements of EU Directive 2006/95/EC.

Legislation in Italy

As explained in the previous paragraph the fire rated doors FOR THE EXTERIORS OF THE BUILDINGS AND FOR THE SLIDING AND HINGED INDUSTRIAL GATES from the 1st of November 2019 undergo the European rules. The fire doors  FOR INTERIORS OF THE BUILDINGS undergo the National Italian law regulated by “Decree of 21 June 2004” issued by the Ministry of Interiors. Following the main points of the Decree:

Prescribes the technical and procedural rules for the classification of fire resistance and approval of doorsets and general shutters.

Defines the meaning of words and the content of documents such as approval, test certificate, test report, conformity declaration, conformity mark and manual for installation, use and maintenance, including validities and renewals.

Defines the manufacturer’s obligation consisting in the release of the conformity declaration, the copy of the “homologation” issued by the Ministry of Interiors, the provision of the manual for installation, use and maintenance and the affixing of the conformity mark to each door.

Authorizes the sale of doors certified and approved with national standard UNI 9723 or European EN 1634 until a new Decree will introduce the compulsory CE marking and related procedure as the standard EN 16034. Comment: For the Italian manufacturers the testing to fire resistance according to the national standard UNI 9723 or to the European EN 1634 is not much different because the standards are very similar to each other. Both temperature control methods use plate thermocouples, the neutral pressure axis is at 850 mm from floor level with the national standard, while with EN 1634 it is at 500 mm which creates only a slight pressure increase at hinge and latch positions. EN 1634 also requires a minimum of 500 cycles testing. “Direct Field of Application” instead of being prescribed like in next paragraph is included within the new standard so that in the test report certain changes to the assembly may be allowed subject to the test assembly exceeding the required time to failure by a given amount.

Defines the “additional allowed variations”, e.g. the conditions for the transferability of test results from double leaf to single leaf doors, from doors without sill to doors with sill, from doors tested with two equal leaves – one unglazed and one glazed – to doors with glass in both or none of the leaves. Also permits the reduction or complete elimination of glass up to 0.25 m2 and the reduction of glass of larger areas to a minimum of 0.25 m2. Prohibits glass of a larger area than that tested, reduction of the distance from the edge, and any rotation or variation of the geometric figure.

Following European standards for building hardware are already compulsory in Italy and the accessories have already to be CE marked: EN 1935 hinges – EN 12209 locks – EN 1158 closing regulators – EN 1125 emergency crossbars – EN 179 emergency handles – EN 1154 door closers – EN 1155 electromagnets. The accessories must have been tested and classified for installation on side-hinged fire resistant doors with a weight of up to 160 kg and single leaves of up to 1600 mm in width.

The minimum classifications relate to the category of use, durability, door mass and closing force, suitability for use on fire doors, safety and corrosion resistance. In Italy the purchaser must be aware that, according to Decree No. 626 dated 19 September 1994 and Decree No. 242 dated 19 March 1996, all doors used for emergency routes or exits must have a minimum net passage height of 2000 mm.

For more detailed information, ENDOORS srl. will on request, supply customers with full copies of the above documents.

Legislation in the World

The activity connected to fire doors in the world can be very different from place to place and the careful buyer should pay much attention to local laws , regulations and habits of the country where the fire rated doors have to be installed to avoid surprises after installation.

There are

(A) developed countries,

(B) partially developed countries and

(C) backward countries.

Hereafter is given a rough description of the 3 main categories so that anyone can identify its own country and decide actions accordingly.

(A) The developed countries have laws regulating the whole activity related to fire rated doors, laboratories for fire testing and bodies recognized by the state to regulate and/or provide or prescribe official documents for/with the products, their installation, identification and possible conformity control, maintenance and other minor aspects.

(B) the partially developed countries have only a part of the characteristics described for group A, for example they have a law or some laws but not laboratories or bodies appointed for the accessory activities. In many cases certificates or documentation of countries of group A are used and accepted.

(C) The main reason for the backwardness of certain countries is the complete lack of a law and regulations requiring the use of fire doors. Without a law the fire doors are not installed or installed only in prestigious buildings if the sensible investor or the charismatic designer claim to use of them. The backward countries have no domestic producers so the fire doors must be imported from other countries with the consequent related problems of understanding, technical clarification, currency costs, transportation, customs clearance etc. with the result that at the end the fire protection in buildings is completely neglected or at best made with local products whose eligibility is uncertain.