Fire performance of escape route doors in cultural heritage buildings - A state-of-the-art review
by Barbro Wedvik; NIKU and Karolina Storesund, RISE
Sorts under
WP 4.3 Fire safety for dwellings
Task 3 Evaluate the fire performance of rehabilitated escape route doors in cultural heritage buildings
Today:
• Presentation of important findings
• Discussion/input from you: how to move on to test planning
2
State of the art - content
• Type of doors
• Laws, regulations and guidance documents
• Fire protective measures for doors
• Guidelines
• Review of studies on old apartment buildings stairways and their doors
• Review of fire tests of doors
3
Type of doors
• Original stairway doors in appartement buildings of cultural heritage value
• Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen, Ålesund.. many buildings!
- vulnerable to fire because of building construction
• Wooden filling doors
• Rich decorations and large glass fields against common areas
• Historic, aesthetic and identity value
• Critical elements to prevent fire spread
Photos: Oslo and Trondheim Municipalities 4
Why do we care?
Photo: Oslo Municipality 5
Laws, regulations and guidance documents
6
The fire protection of buildings in Norway is regulated by
• the Fire and Explosion Prevention Act (Brann- og eksplosjonsvernloven)
• the Planning and Building Act (Plan- og bygningsloven)
• the Internal Control Regulations (Internkontrollforskriften)
Regulations on Fire Prevention (Forskrift om brannforebygging) says:
The owner of a building is required to upgrade the safety level in the building so that it at least corresponds to the level stated in Building Regulations 1985 (BF85), or later building regulations.
The safety of older buildings should be upgraded to the same level as for newer buildings, as far as possible within a practical and economically viable framework.
Fire protective measures for doors
• Intumescent strips
• Door locker
• Caretaking/upgrading of hinges, locks and handles
• Fire rated glass
• Intumescent fire retardant paint
• Fire insulating board
7
Norwegian guidelines
8
SINTEF Building Detail Sheet 734.503:
version mainly from 2007, minor revision in 2016
Oslo municipality’s guideline:
published in 2015, withdrawn in 2019
Stairwell side Appartment side
Photo: NIKU 9
SINTEF Building Detail Sheet
Oslo Municipal`s guide
Upgrading following the Oslo Municipal`s guide, stairwell side:
Left door is not upgraded, but has fire safe inner door Right door has
• new fire rated glass with frosted film
• intumescent FR paint all over
• New handle and inside door locker
Photo: NIKU 10
Review of previously reported studies
Main focus: Studies on apartment brick buildings stairways and their doors from the last 20 years
Also:
• Reports on matrix/scheme for
assessment for upgrading of doors in historic buildings
• Papers presenting use of fire- and smoke curtains in historic buildings
11
Fire performance of old timber doors and their weaknesses as presented in fire tests
Footer 12
+ 1
Fire performance of old timber doors and their weaknesses as presented in Norwegian reports and fire tests
Photo: NIKU 13
Conclusion and proposal for future work
Develop plan for door testing based on findings in the report
Why? There is a need for documentation of the fire performance of upgraded old door leaves How? The preparation of such documentation should be based on new fire tests
Establish "pre-accepted" solutions or a template /set of criteria as a framework for designing more individual solutions
14
Conclusion and proposal for future work
A work plan for fire-testing of fire protective measures for doors includes
• discussing the possibilities of testing fire protective solutions that may form the basis for a more general approval for the use on existing doors
• how to implement the results in guidelines More specifically
• a test plan should be set up
15
Conclusion and proposal for future work
As basis for an updated guideline the following measures needs further attention:
• Fire-rated glass panels
• Fire-retardant paint/varnish
• Fire-rated insulation and panels
16
Recommended tests
Fire-rated glass panels:
Investigate the mounting of fire classified glass panels in timber doors
• attention to higher weight and thickness than the original glass
• how to mount the glass without creating unwanted tension/pressure
The mounting of a fire-rated glass panel on the inside of the existing door glass
• attention to higher load on the door leaf and the aesthetics of the result
17
Recommended tests
Fire-retardant paint/varnish:
• Test if local stripping of old paint and treatment with FR-paint only on the thinner parts and only on one side of the door leaf will cause tensions/curves in the door
• Test different methods for measuring that the right amount/weight/thickness of fire-retardant paint has been applied
18
Recommended tests
Fire-rated insulation and panels
• could be fire tested to demonstrate its efficiency and reliability
• more awareness of aesthetic and cultural heritage values is needed when choosing this solution
19
Discussion/input: how to move on to test planning
21
