Question: Our lift is not working. The fire stairwells have fire doors. Can these doors be left open to allow easy access for residents until the lift is functional again?
Answer: Fire doors cannot be left open as this destroys the compartmentalisation between levels.
Fire doors cannot be left open as this destroys the compartmentalisation between levels. This means that if a fire occurred on level 1, the smoke would fill the stairs, blocking safe egress for all other residents. A highly dangerous situation.
In this situation, we would recommend one of the following:
- Have a locksmith temporarily change the doors to non-lockable (they must still close and latch) and the fire rating of the door should not be impacted.
- If the building has a smoke detection system fitted, magnetic door holders could be fitted to the doors allowing them to remain open, but close automatically on fire or smoke. This means the doors can remain open whenever you want for egress. The down-side is that it would not be cheap.
This post appears in the October 2022 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Rob Broadhead 2020 Fire Protection E: rob.broadhead@2020fire.com.au P: 1300 340 210