In 2017, fire door inspection drastically changed for health care facilities. The new rule states that facilities must comply with new annual testing requirements of their fire and smoke doors. According to Kaiser, a typical 800,000 square-foot hospital has approximately 1,000 fire doors. Under the updated requirements, the facility must conduct a fairly intensive formal 11-point visual and operational test verifying that each door adheres to the NFPA 80 fire code. Among the 11 items in the list are things like:
- No open holes or breaks present on the surface
- Intact glazing in place
- Doors, frame, and hardware are secured and in working order
- Door clearances within required specifications
Once the 11-point verification is complete, facilities must respond to each point and specify in writing the steps they plan to take to satisfy each point if they do not pass inspection. Due to these tedious and complex tasks, health care facilities find it favorable to outsource work to experts like United Fire Door Inspection.
Unique Fire Safety Risks of Health Care Facilities
The updated rules for fire and smoke doors recognize the particular nature of health care facilities. In the event of a fire, promptly evacuating patients is a difficult life-and-death challenge, given the medical condition of patients who may be immobile, connected to machinery, or require assistance to be moved. Fire safety in a health care facility setting is the most critical of any type of structure requiring evacuation because so many lives depend on properly functioning equipment.
To protect patients while in a health care facility, facilities are physically compartmentalized to ensure a fire does not travel from one area to another. Each room is blocked off from other rooms, with a different set of safety precautions required for each of these environments. Since fire doors open and close, they’re part of the building’s passive fire protection system. Generally, they’re not constructed with the same degree of physical strength and integrity as the walls and ceiling. And, unlike other components, doors are in constant motion, which can weaken the hinges.
Although a fire door will securely fit its enclosure at the time it’s placed, the constant motion and weakening of the hinges make the fit less secure over time. Due to this, doors are one of the biggest fire risks in health care facilities. This is just one reasons why the rules changed and U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) was concerned that facilities were not maintaining the doors to the degree they needed to be maintained.
Certified Fire Door Inspector in Florida
Fire doors save lives and protect property. Well maintained fire doors ensure that occupants can evacuate a burning building swiftly and safely, avoiding potentially tragic consequences.
United Fire Door Inspection are professionals and a fire expert fire inspection service certified by Door Hardware Institute (DHI). Through education, advocacy, accreditation, and facilitated networking, we provide members with collective intelligence to meet the security and safety needs of their customers. We check and test over 25 individual factors and components of fire doors and provide a detailed written report on the condition and functionality of each door.
We service Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Tampa Bay, Sarasota, Venice, Fort Lauderdale, Naples, and all the state of Florida. If your health care facility needs an annual fire door inspection, contact us online.
and visit unitedfiredoors.com/fire-doors-inspection