Fire standards for the correct direction of opening doors in various places

About the sides and directions of opening the door according to fire standards

Requirements for protection in the event of a fire provide for the presence of evacuation exits with fireproof doors. The doors are equipped with handles-crossbars and gaskets that do not allow smoke to pass through. Such an entrance door shall be opened towards the exit to the outside.

Also, safety requirements must be observed in such buildings:

schools;
hospitals;
office space;
Hotels.

An open sash should not block the exit to residents of other apartments. If there is a vestibule on the site, the apartment door leaf is installed so that it opens into the apartment, and the vestibules – to the stairs. Violation of the rules can lead to a deterioration in the evacuation route for residents of neighboring apartments.

Redevelopment of residential premises involves the transfer of the doorway, partitions and is carried out after obtaining a special permit. In this case, changing the direction of movement of the sash or installing a metal structure by redevelopment is not implied. If an open door blocks the passage from a neighboring apartment, then when a violation is detected, a person receives a warning that obliges to eliminate the problem. In case of non-fulfillment, a fine is imposed, the case is transferred to the court.

Regulations do not prohibit the installation of additional doors. At the same time, neighbor’s doors should be opened so that the trajectories do not intersect.

In public places

To ensure fire safety in public places, an important rule follows: the door sash always opens outwards to ensure free passage to the street.

Automatic doors must be equipped with a manual unlocking device.

In places with long corridors with many exits, such as hospitals, the doors open towards the corridor. In this case, the rules require that a distance of more than 1 m between the open flaps on opposite sides be observed.

the width of the staircase should be:

in children’s institutions, boarding schools, specialized homes for people with disabilities and the elderly, hospitals – more than 1.35 m;

for buildings in which more than 200 people are simultaneously present on the 2nd and higher floors – 1.2 m;

for staircases that provide passage to 1 place of work – 0.7 m;
in other cases, 0.9 m.

When designing a building, isolated areas on the staircases are necessarily provided. From here there is an evacuation route from each floor.

Requirements for escape routes

A regulatory document has been developed that regulates the rules for laying evacuation routes and installing doors according to fire safety requirements.

Highlights:

Evacuation routes are considered to be those by which a person moves outward in a fire. The direction of opening of the exit doors shall be outwards.

In the evacuation openings, it is impossible to install turnstiles, moving doors and other obstacles that interfere with free movement.

The parameters of the height and width of the opening are calculated depending on the estimated number of evacuated people. The height should be more than 1.9 m. The width of the exit is 1 m. For buildings included in class F1, and the alleged evacuation of more than 15 people and other premises, excluding class F3, when evacuating more than 50 people, the opening should be more than 1.2 m wide.

The total number of exits for evacuation should be greater than the total number of evacuation passages from each floor.

Escape routes do not include elevators, escalators, the roof of the building. To ensure the safe withdrawal of people with disabilities during the construction phase of the building, separate isolated areas near the elevators are provided.

The width of the opening during the evacuation from the corridor to the stairwell is determined on the basis of the estimated number of evacuators per 1 m wide through such an exit in buildings according to fire hazard classes: C0 – up to 165 people, C1 – up to 115 people, C2.3 – up to 80 people.

buildings should be equipped with fire safety signs and light points by which people navigate at the time of emergency.

If the evacuation exit is not harmonized with the requirements of standards and norms, it is considered an emergency exit.