Following a Fire Risk Assessment the assessor has stated that fire doors should be hung using 3 hinges. Currently most of our fire doors have only two hinges.

Is the assessor right? because most have been installed in the last five years - is this now new legislation and the assessor is telling me I have to do this?

Cheers for any info and thanks

Rich

I would guess the requirement is buried in a British Standard - probably for fire doors!!

But really, is it that essential - I would think is unlikely that a 2 hinged door would not have sufficient fire resistance to allow safe evacuaion of the building etc.

I would have thought the money spent on adding another hinge to the fire doors, could be spent on more beneficial fire safety issues that you might have?

Priorities!!

Thanks for all the replies - I agree it is one of priorities but I do take the point about preventing warping.

Rich

O that we could all afford £168 to buy this standard - it is one of the reasons why questions like mine appear on this forum.

I hope to get answers from those who (or their company) can afford to buy such extortionately priced information. The charity I work for let alone SME's cannot afford such expense and you wonder why so many fall foul of H&S law.

It makes H&S compliance absolutely unaffordable and practically impossible to achieve - no wonder the HSE is making millions at £126 per hour.

Kevkel - do I need to fit 3 hinges to existing fire doors where at the moment I only have 2?

Rich

Thanks martinw - so do I need 3 hinges? - does your reference state how many, please.

Rich

Not sure what type of establishment you are in but if you look at page 126 of the document :-

https://www.gov.uk/gover...factories-and-warehouses

May assist you and its free from the Government (for now anyway ). Refers to those nice BS noted above.

So don't trust your assessor then ?

That document was produced in November 2012. Archived previous vesions going back to 2006 can be found by clicking the 'archive (Previous Editions)' link here:

http://www.firecode.org.uk/

If the fire doors have been manufactured by a certified manufacturer and installed by a certified installer they will almost certainly have three hinges.

Not many people are aware of the requirement for certified installers for fire doors.

They train, usually at their own expense to gain the certification and have follow up on site tests/checks to see they do the proper installation, there is more to it than just hanging a door. The door furniture has to be the right type and correctly installed with fire resistant fillers where necessary. Glazing has to be the correct type and correctly installed.

A non certified joiner may see three hinges but fit only two as they do not know any better.

IMO look for the plate on the top edge of the door, (use a mirror or take a picture with your phone), if a fire door it will be there. The plate will have the name of manufacturer, contact them and ask the question.

I would think that will take you ten minutes?

Please get back on here with the answer.

Will do

Cheers Kevkel - thanks for the info - I'll follow your advice seeing as most of the doors were planed to fit.

Rich

Lawlee45239 - have find the following which probably helps both of us:

Taken from: Fire Safety Advice Centre

Quote Single Axis Hinges

Hinges and latches have an important role in ensuring the integrity of the door. The fire door hinges must remain adequately screwed, in spite of the charring of wood in the vicinity. It is common to use three hinges although tests have shown that with some doors two hinges may be adequate for a 30 minute fire door (FD30). Steel and brass hinges are effective for a half-hour door, but only steel hinges will be satisfactory for a 60 minute fire door (FD60). For the latter, it may be necessary to use hinges with extended flaps (broad butts) so that fixing is maintained even when severe charring has taken place.
BS EN 1935: 2002: Building Hardware Single Axis Hinges is the current European standard for single axis hinges and being able to understand the CE markings, provided when purchasing hinges, is of some importance. Guide to Interpreting Markings for Single Axis Hinges.
The Building Regulations set out the circumstances in which rising butts may be used, although these are not recommended. In such a case compensation must be provided for the cut-out from the top edge of the door by increasing the depth of the stop. Unquote

Rich