Concealed Door Closer BS476:22 1987

[Tadees]

I have an RP who wishes to install concealed door closers in a hostel on the basis that the packaging says it is suitable for half hour fire resisting doors, in accordance with BS 476 Part 22, 1987.  The company selling these closers is called Securit and the RP plans to fit these to existing fire doors.  Is this a scam or genuine?

[nearlythere]

It depends on how it is being sold and for what reason. BS476 Pt 22 & BS 1634 is a fire resistance and smoke control test for door, shutter and openable window assemblies and elements of building hardware to ensure that in the event of a fire the integrity of the door and the components which support the door in the frame, door locks/keepers and hinges, are maintained.
 
Not all fire resisting doors are required to be self closing but those which are provided to protect escape routes are considered critical for life safety and as such are required to be maintained closed at all material times and, to ensure this, fitted with suitable self closing devices.
 
Where a self closing device is necessary this must be of an appropriate standard to ensure that it suitable for the purpose. There are many self closing devices available for particular and specific uses but that which is necessary for a fire door should comply with BS 1154. A device is tested to this standard to ensure that essentially, it is suitable for the purpose for which it is intended, one of which is to ensure the door closes properly and fully from any open position, at a sufficient speed and force, overriding any latch.

[Tadees]

In essence therefore, not suitable for life safety as I already guessed?

[nearlythere]

In essence therefore, not suitable for life safety as I already guessed?

Can't see it on Securit website unless I download catalogue which requires my email address which will result in bombardment with spam.
Have you link to spec?

[Tadees]

What was mentioned earlier is what was on the packaging, i.e. concealed door closer, suitable for half hour fire resisting doors BS476 Part 22, 1987. Ref S5112.

[Tadees]

Oh and it says normal domestic usage

[Tom Sutton]

Check out http://www.inest.co.uk/products/Securit_S5112_Concealed_Door_Closer_1-2_Hour_Fire_Door.asp it looks like the single chain perko which wasn't acceptable, you need to check it out carefully.

Assuming you haven't got BS EN 1154:1997 there should be a six figure code that shows if the closer is suitable for a particular door. Check out,
http://www.uniononline.co.uk/en/site/Union-Online/Standards-and-Legislation/BS-EN-1154/

[Fishy]

There are several concealed hydraulic overhead door closers which I know have been successfully tested within fire resisting timber doorsets.  They all use a 'pack' of bespoke intumescent liners which must be correctly installed around the mechanism.  If you're specifying or checking, you need to make sure that there is appropriate evidence of fire resistance & that it shows that the door & closer are compatible.  The information should be readily available.

have a look at the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers (GAI) guide for what questions to ask:
http://firecode.org.uk/Code_of_Practice__Hardware_for_fire_and_escape_doors.pdf

Appendix A of the E&W Approved Document B also gives general advice about what to look for, as regards evidence of fire resistance performance.

[Tom W]

http://www.firecoltd.com/detail-Door-Closers-Astra-1001-Series-Concealed-Door-Closer-41-62.aspx


Astra concealed closer

[Auntie LIn]

Don't forget to look at the suitability of the door to hold a concealed closer.   If your closer body is 38mm wide and your door 44mm, it doesn't give you very much on either side of the closer and whilst it may well, if properly installed, sit there for a 30 minute fire test, my guess is that even with fairly light usage it won't need many slams before it breaks through the faces.