Life Safety Standards Woes in Hospital & Healthcare Facilities

Excessive Fire Door Gaps are a significant problem to alleviate for hospitals and healthcare facilities with the recent updates in code compliance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The CMS as of July of 2016 mandate that all healthcare facilities and hospitals must be compliant with the 2012 edition of the NFPA 101® Life Safety Code (and NFPA 80 Fire Door Clearance Requirements) instead of the previously used 2010 edition. Consequently, this change creates a more ambitious standard in fire door gap sizing. Also, NFPA 101 compliance ups the frequency of door inspections in hospital and healthcare facilities. As a result, many hospitals and healthcare facilities that once were compliant with CMS standards have fallen out of compliance. These violations can be very costly to a facility in terms of finances and time. In the end, facilities not in compliance are issued a 60-day grace period warning to fix them.

A Solution for Fire Door Gaps

National Guard Products (NGP) Gap Solutions for Excessive Fire Door Clearances include UL certified retrofits for door bottom/undercut and frame/hinge clearance up to 90 minutes. a cost and time effective solution for excessive fire door gaps. As of the writing of this article, NGP's Gap Solutions are the only UL certified fire door gap retrofit products. NGP Gap Solutions for Excessive Fire Door Clearances an ideal solution for a hospital or healthcare facility looking to meet NFPA 80 compliance in short order.

NFPA 80, Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives, contains information on maximum gap allowances for different types of fire doors. In general, clearance for those allowed gaps are as follows: under the bottom of a door: 3/4" between door and frame: 1/8"* meeting edges for a pair of doors: 1/8"* For more detailed gap information, refer to NFPA 80, Section 6.3.1.7 and Section 4.8.4.1. *Doors faced with high-pressure decorative laminate material, 1/3-hour wood doors installed in hollow metal frames, and hollow metal doors are permitted a +/- 1/16” tolerance of the nominal 1/8” clearances.

We Make Security Simple

In conclusion, IDN, Inc. has a wide selection of fire doors, fire door hardware, and accessories to assist you. Contact your local IDN branch to speak with our informed sales team or to schedule a consultation visit from one of our expert sales representatives to determine the best hardware for your facility and situation.