Rank: Forum user 
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Whats the score on fire doors being used as general access doors.
We have a door in our factory with which the only means of opening it is by push bar from side A top B to ensure escape in a fire.
There is no handle or access from Side B to A although employees have been propping it open or taping the hinge so it cant shut properly. They are then using it as a general access door.
Are there any regulations stopping us from just changing it to a general access door but ensuring it still has a push bar to aid escape.
Thanks
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Rank: Super forum user
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I assume you mean that this is a final fire exit - i.e. an exit leading to a place of safety outside - rather than a fire door, which is usually the term used for an internal door provided to prevent spread of smoke and fire, which should be kept closed.
If this is the case then provided you ensure that it is available for use as a fire exit at all times when the premises is occupied, I can see no objection. There may be a security issue with having such a door openable from the outside but not a fire safety one.
As always with matters fire safety, your risk assessment is the means of making the final decision on what is suitable for your premises.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Ok first things first, it sounds like a fire exit not a fire door. Fire exits are designed to allow safe egress from a building or area, fire doors are designed to keep fire and smoke contained. So that's the pedantic bit over with. The legal requirement for a fire exit is that it must allow easy egress out to an area of safety. You don't have to keep it closed but you do have to ensure that it is clearly marked as a fire exit. There is no problem with a general access route also being a fire exit but again, if it is to be used as a fire exit it has to be clearly marked as such. The reason why many organisations keep fire exits closed and able to be opened from one side only is purely for security so that people from outside can't use it to get into the building. There is no legal requirement to keep fire exits closed.
Fire doors however must be fitted with self closing devices that either keep the door closed or operate in the event of a fire.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Looks like Heather got in there while I was one finger typing
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Rank: Forum user
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For clarification this is a fire door, ie an internal break between two areas of work.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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It's normal for fire doors to be openable from both sides, for example you often see them on corridors etc - what is the reason for this one not to be?
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Rank: Forum user
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I suppose that is my question! I didnt see a genuine reason
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Rank: Super forum user 
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You will need to have it 'signed up' to indicate it's function, and also ensure that it is kept clear at all times. If it is being used from either side you'll need to make sure signs are present on both sides.
Out of interest, if this is the escape route then where would people from side B go if there was a fire on their side? If there is not a handle to exit on that side and they cannot exit the 'fire exit' because of fire then where do they go?
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Rank: Forum user
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Side B has the Fire Exit located in it so B would go straight out of the exit....
Thanks
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Rank: Super forum user
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Ok so now on the understanding that it is an internal fire door. There is no good fire safety reason why a fire door can't be used as a general access door. In fact since it sounds as though its function as a fire door is being negated by people propping it open (and probably damaging the hinges, seals and so on) then it sounds as though providing a handle to open it from the other side would be a good thing! In so doing you must be careful not to reduce the structural integrity of the door in such a way as to compromise the fire protection it is supposed to give (this is where your risk assessment comes in together with an understanding of why the door was there in the first place)
I would echo Kate's question though as to why it wasn't designed this way in the first place? Quite possibly for security reasons to prevent people accessing one area from another....watch out you don't cause one problem by solving another!
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Rank: Super forum user
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Or could it originally have been a final exit and the other room has been built as an extension?
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Rank: Super forum user 
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There are ways of recognising a fire door if you look at the guide to fire risk assessment, page 121 for offices and shops, page 126 for sleeping accommodation.
Good tips to look out for i.e. door closer, hinges, vision panel, handles and locks, intumescent strip etc.
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Rank: Guest
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A final fire exit door can at times also be a fire door such as on or under an external fire escape. That's the pedantic bit over!
The door you have sounds like it is intended to be both an exit door and a fire door. If I understand what you are saying correctly then the exit seems to be required in one direction only i.e. from side A to side B. This may because there is insufficient exits available from side A without the door whereas side B has sufficient exits without needing to use this door.
As for propping the door open I am assuming that the separation between the two work areas is a fire resisting separation. If this is the case then the door should not be propped open as it is serving a purpose as a fire door, it is a fire separation between the two work areas.
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Rank: Forum user
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Can i butt in on this but is there a minimum size for a fire exit (outside door used as an emergency escape)
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