Frequently Asked Questions
Fire Rate® Fire Door & Frames, Door locks, closers & accessories,Sales, certified repairs & Installation related FAQ's.
Fire Rate® delivers to Australian Standards
All Fire Rate® product & services are in accordance with current & relevant Australian Standards & in accordance with, The Building Code of Australia.
- Licence No: 227878C
- Qualified Supervisor Licence No: 227877C
- Fire Protection Association of Australia Member No: 15190
No. Fire doors are not a standard timber or hollow door. They are an engineered fire solution to protect property & lives. Only qualified carpenters, builders or qualified accredited fire door installers should install Fire Doors & Frames. Fire Doors have regulation gaps & clearances that must be installed in accordance with manufacturing details & Australian Standards.
Pending on the damage of the door. If the door is binding on the frame & requires re-positioning, this can be achieved & maintain compliance. However if the door has split, broken or if internal core materials have been damaged or are loose, then the fire door must be replaced to ensure maximum protection as the fire door has been designed & engineered.
The answer is depending on;
- Internal core of the existing fire door. (If asbestos) then definitely NOT!
- If the existing fire door locks are tested & approved fire door locks
- If the lock(s) & closer are still in sound working condition
- Location & usage of door hardware. (If close to salt water, exposed weather or high usage, then new fire tested door locks & closers are required)
Fire Rate® – Australian & Building Code of Australian Standards:
- Fire doors (including signs) – BCA Specification C3.4,AS/ NZS 1905.1 AS 1851 2005 Section 17
- Exit door Panic Hardware – BCA NSW D2.21(f), Hardware Manufacturers Specification
- Fire isolated passageways – BCA Sections C and D. 6 monthly, yearly to AS 1851 2005 Section 17
- Fire rated access panels – BCA C3.13
- Notice of offences relating to fire stairs – BCA E3.3
- Paths of travel to exits – BCA Section D – Clear & unobstructed
- Smoke doors – BCA Specification C3.4
A sample of the door’s core can be sent to many test laboratories throughout Australia. As a ballpark figure this testing cost between $100.00 to $300.00 pending! Fire doors with Asbestos cores were manufactured throughout Australia from 1948 – 1986. When Asbestos was banned in fire doors, there was thousands of fire doors still in warehouses around the country that eventually sold & were install into the 90’s. Therefore only a lab test report on the core can determine if the existing fire door(s) are Asbestos or not. There is another product called Calcium Silicate which has been used in fire doors & looks similar to Asbestos cores, but is safe & still manufactured today around the country & world.
Do not measure the existing door. Open the door & measure the frame where the door sits. If you measure the old fire door, the new fire door could be wrong size & fail due to excessive gaps. Measuring the old door & not the frame could require another door replacement.
- Measure the fire door frame NOT the old fire door!
- Measure the top, middle & bottom frame widths
- Measure floor to top of frame where door fits on both sides & middle
- Measure the frame rebate thickness
For example: The existing frame measures Top width 822mm – Middle width 820mm – Bottom width 819mm. All floor to door frame head same measurement of 2050mm, Frame rebate measures 41mm. The door supplied would be 2040mm x 818mm x 37mm.This will allow for fitting into frame to scribe & custom fit as required. Also measure the middle of the frame striker to top of frame & middle of second lock i.e. Lockwood 001 series fire door approved deadlock for Apartment entry fire doors
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