Fire & Threat Spread Prevention

A fire door, one not intended as an exit, is used to help deter the spread of smoke, flames, and toxic gases during a fire by compartmentalizing the building. The code requirements for fire doors focus on keeping the door closed and latched during a fire. For this reason, most locks have options for fire-rated latches. These will commonly carry a 3-hour rating though latches for paired doors may only have a 90-, 60-, or 20-minute rating depending on the lock type, latch length, and size of opening.

Another means of prevention is the use of fail secure products. These electrified or electronic locking products will, in the event of power loss, remain in a locked state. Fail secure products can include electric strikes, electrified panic hardware trim, electrified latch retraction on panic hardware, and electrified locks. More information on this topic and the code requirements involved can be found on iDigHardware.com.