Screen Doors In Front Of Fire Doors On Units

Questions have been raised regarding fire doors on the entrance to units.  We will endeavor to help you to answer these questions from your clients with the relevant regulatory requirements.

The QFRS have been and can charge/fine occupants/owners/managing entities under section 104d-1.  Failure to maintain at all times every prescribed fire safety installation to a standard of safety and reliability in the event of fire.

 A doorway in a Class 2 or 3 building MUST be protected if it provides access from a sole-occupancy unit to

1. a public corridor, public lobby, or the like; or
2. a room not within a sole-occupancy unit; or
3. the landing of an internal non fire-isolated stairway that serves as a required exit; or
4. another sole-occupancy unit.

This now affectively renders the fire door as a prescribed fire installation:

Ref Fire and Rescue Service Act 1990 - 104D

Occupier of building to maintain prescribed fire safety installations

1. The occupier of a building must maintain at all times every prescribed fire safety installation to a standard of safety and reliability in the event of fire.
   prescribed fire safety installation means a fire safety installation-
   1. that was at any time required to be maintained in the building in question by or under any Act, including as a prerequisite to the granting of any approval or the issue of any notice, certificate or instrument; and
   2. that was not at any time authorised by or under any Act to be no longer maintained.

The fire door now is required to be installed to the AS1905 and maintained to the AS 1851. AS1905.1-2006 2.1.2 Self-closure

The doorset shall be self-closing or automatic. Automatic doorsets shall revert to selfclosing on operation of a sensing device installed in accordance with the requirements of Clause 5.6.3

This affectively eliminates the door from being propped open for periods of times as it breaches the integrity of the self contained fire compartment.

Further to this is the noncompliance of deadbolts on fire doors, i refer to AS 1905 section 2.1.3.2 Self latching Ref AS1905.1-2006 2.1.2 Self-closure

The doorset shall be self-closing or automatic. Automatic doorsets shall revert to selfclosing on operation of a sensing device installed in accordance with the requirements of Clause 5.6.3 section 2.1.3.2 Self latching

Any bolt or function that could, in normal usage, render a door leaf non-self-latching shall not be incorporated.

NOTE: A non-self-latching bolt (e.g., a dead bolt) will prevent the door from closing if left protruding while the door is open.

The placing of a screen door as security  device in front of the fire door , then allowing it to be open for prolonged amounts of time breaches the capabilities of the unit to be a self contained fire safety area in the event of a fire.