generally speaking yes. But there are exceptions. As to whether you will incur the wrath of you local FSO, that will depend on their level of understanding of the RRFSO.

Good answers but also be aware that if you have any local ventilation systems in the area of the door being wedged open you may find that they are not working very well as they will pull their air from the doorway in preference to the rest of the area - just because it is easier. Take care John C

I don't know the laws, legislation, regulations or standards in your country, but could you define " final exit door'. However if it is not an emergency door I think you can use it

You will have to demonstrate that the fire exit door will not be damaged e.g. warped by wind etc. If the door mechanism is affected then it will affect the ability to evacuate. Different styles of final exit fire doors and also older doors may be easily damaged by wind and water ingress. You will also have to take into consideration other legislation e.g. workplace temperature. I generally recommend that these doors are not wedged open. I have given the following advice in the past: "Fire exit doors are part of the structural means of restricting the spread of smoke and fire from within and outwith a building. Should there be a fire outwith the building a wedged open fire exit door may allow smoke and potentially fire to enter the building. This would result in a breach of Sections 53 and 54 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 with inadequate provision of reasonable measures taken to reduce the spread of fire. The additional uncontrolled ventilation from a wedged open door could potentially have a direct impact on an internal fire. The building ventilation system will automatically shut down in the event of a fire to reduce the impact of air flow on a the spread of fire and smoke, however a wedged open fire exit door will result in an uncontrolled ventilation of fresh air into the building. As such these fire exit doors must be used in line with the requirements by the appropriate Fire Safety Legislation and Practical Guidance as noted below: Practical Safety Guidance for Education and Day Care for Children Premises Chapter 7: Restricting the spread of fire and smoke Doors 151 A closed door may restrict fire spread by holding back fire and smoke. …….. Fire doors are an essential part of a fire compartment and for the protection of means of escape. A self closing device is a normal feature of a fire door….. Fire Separation 154 Where buildings or parts of buildings are in different occupation this poses particular problems in terms of fire safety, as one occupier does not usually have control over the working practices of their co-occupiers. The purpose of fire separation is to restrict the spread of fire between different occupancies. 155 Where the premises adjoin or are part of a larger building, such as where it is a unit, is semi-detached or in a terrace, the potential for an outbreak of fire in the neighbouring building or occupancy ultimately spreading to the premises should be considered. The provision of fire separation will ensure that in the event of an outbreak of fire within the building, fire and smoke is inhibited from spreading beyond the area of occupation where the fire originated. Ventilation systems 163 The potential for ventilation systems to allow the spread of fire and smoke should be considered. ……. Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 Part III Fire Safety Means of escape 13.(1) Where necessary in order to ensure the safety of relevant persons in respect of harm caused by fire, the person with duties under section 53 or 54 must ensure that routes to emergency exits from relevant premises and the exits themselves are kept free from obstruction at all times.

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A closed door can restrict fire spread by holding back fire and smoke. Doors with hold open devices are linked to the fire alarm. When the fire alarm is activated these doors will close automatically thereby preventing fire and smoke from passing through and limiting the possible oxygen supply to the fire. Staff should check the operation of these doors to ensure they remain effective (doors are never wedged open). Doors should be maintained closed, especially at night, or be provided with self closing devices. Where fire doors are provided they should be capable of restricting the action of fire and smoke for not less than half an hour in accordance with the current British Standards. All fire doors should display signage indicating that they meet the criteria for resisting the spread of fire and smoke." In terms of Health and Safety Legislation: "Temperature in the indoor workplace such as a school, nursery, office etc must meet the minimum standard. For workplaces where the activity is mainly sedentary, for examples offices, the temperature should normally be at least 16oC. If work involves physical effort it should be at least 13oC. Appropriate heating must be provided to ensure these minimum temperatures are reached. In the event of the minimum temperature not being reached Personal Protective Equipment may be used but only as a last resort. Should fire exits be wedged open this would result in the temperature within the building being reduced, potentially to below the minimum temperature. As such these doors must be used in line with the requirements placed by the appropriate Fire Safety and Health and Safety Legislation as noted below: Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 All work places should comply with the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations." I hope this is of some use. SOS

http://www.shponline.co....afety-breaches-cost-asda Counsel for the prosecution, William Clegg QC, told the court that the inspection, which was carried out following a complaint, identified serious breaches to fire-safety regulations, including: •two fire-exit doors chained and locked shut; •obstruction of fire-escape routes; •combustible items obstructing fire-exit doors and escape routes; and •fire-exit doors wedged open

By extension of the logic behind some of the posts above, no external door should ever be left open, nor window!

Excluding security, what are the risks introduced by leaving open a final exit door? The door being open certainly won't delay anyone's escape, and may greatly assist by reducing or eliminating smoke-logging of escape routes. It's already been stated that cumbersome or obstructive items should not be used to prop doors - I'm sure no-one disagrees with this. Surely the reason we get so concerned about exit doors is because we have to balance the needs of ESCAPE and SECURITY? I've asked people not to prop open exit doors before, but that was because all kinds of undesirable visitors could wander in, not because I was concerned about fire spread into the building. Obviously some buildings may have particular issues in or around them, but for most premises I don't see any significant risk introduced, given adequate management.

Ooops! Just realised thet redken had posted this.

A final exit door is not necessarily a fire door unless designated to be a fire door. If it is not designated as a fire door then it is just a door. Security door maybe, but just because it is a final exit door it does not have to be a designated fire door. Have a look at the advice below, which is bang on, as is Messy, as usual. http://www.bristol.ac.uk...edia/gn/firedoors-gn.pdf Why don't you know that? How do you benchmark the advice you are giving? The Asda link goes on about fire doors, not final exit doors. Big difference.

Alternatively to all the above, if you apply a pragmatic approach, let them have the door open, but instill in them that some one must be accountable for removal of the wedge. And that they receive approval from the building fire warden/marshal. And that that person is responsible for ensuring that the door is shut, and they report the door as shut to the fire warden/marshal at the muster point should an incident be realised or a drill conducted.

Hmmm yes, I'm with jake, martin, messy, gramsay. The OP asked about exit doors yet half the responses talk about fire doors. THIS THREAD WAS NOT ABOUT FIRE DOORS! This thread is embarrassing. Be nice if we could start again.......

source http://www.firelawscotland.org/files/OSG-defs.html If the final exit door can be held open safely, without damage, or creating a trip or security hazard, I'd have no objection. PS Has someone got warm enough weather as need to open the door? Where? We're still in winter weather up here.

Sorry, but I think there appears to be a lack of pragmatism here. In the event of the fire, I would expect pretty much all the final exit doors to be open as people will be using them to get out of the building. Are you advocating that the last person out of a door should be ensuring it is shut behind them? Is it not better to leave final exit doors open to allow access to the fire service (what could be the best entrance point for them may not be openable from the outside)?