Horizontal Sliding Fire Doors: Code-Compliant Design for Wide-Span Opening Protectives

Since 2000, fire and building codes allow for sliding-door systems for emergency egress

December 2007
[ Page 8 of 8 ]
Educational Advertising Section Provided by Won-Door Products

By Anthony Flint

Instructions

Questions:

Program Code: 127SPOND
LU: 1

1. After the Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston in 1942, changes in building codes included all but which of the provisions below?
a. Emergency exit doors that easily swing open in the direction of travel.
b. Swinging doors on either side of revolving doors at the primary entrance.
c. Sliding or overhead doors as means of emergency egress.
d. Minimum width and heights for hinged swinging doors.

2. The occupancy “load” used to determine emergency egress standards is based on what calculation?
a The maximum number of people allowed in a building.
b. The square footage of a building in proportion to the maximum
allowed occupants.
c. The number of exits.
d. The number of floors.

3. Horizontal sliding doors were first allowed in all but which of the following applications?
a. To protect elevator lobbies.
b. In buildings with occupant loads less than 50.
c. As the primary entrance.
d. As fire and smoke barriers in healthcare facilities.

4. In 2000, the three regional building code entities merged into a single group to produce what single uniform code?
a. The International Building Code.
b. The National Fire Protection Association Code.
c. The Standard Building Code.
d. The Uniform Building Code.

5. Horizontal accordion-style sliding doors are now accepted as emergency egress:
a. Only in healthcare facilities.
b. Only in buildings with occupancy loads of less than 50.
c. Only to protect elevator lobbies.
d. In all applications regardless of occupancy load, except in areas used for storage of flammable materials.

6. Horizontal accordion-style sliding doors are commonly used in which applications?
a. As a seamless separation of internal spaces such as museum galleries.
b. As fire protection and security barriers in airports and government facilities.
c. As a means of emergency egress in back-of-house commercial buildings.
d. All of the above.

7. Under Universal Design, where the built environment is designed for people of all abilities, sliding-door systems are:
a. Easier to use by people in wheelchairs because they can be opened and navigated with minimal effort.
b. Slightly harder to use as emergency egress compared to hinged swinging doors.
c. Only easier to use compared to swinging doors that open in the direction of travel.
d. Not permitted under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

8. The horizontal sliding-door system is designed to respond to:
a. Smoke detector activation.
b. A fire alarm system.
c. A manual pull station.
d. All of the above.

9. In an emergency, horizontal sliding-door systems:
a. Close and can be re-opened only with 30 lbs of lateral pressure.
b. Close and can be re-opened with 5 lbs of pressure and then stay open.
c. Close and can be re-opened with 5lbs of lateral pressure, retract. typically to 36 inches, then recycle closed.
d. Cannot be re-opened for emergency egress.

10. The fire separation advantages of a horizontal sliding-door system also provide design flexibility for all but which of the following reasons?
a. A floor track is never needed.
b. In the retracted position they are not highly visible.
c. They require both a ceiling and a floor track.
d. They can be designed in radial configurations.

[ Page 8 of 8 ]
Originally published in the December 2007 issue of Architectural Record.

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