Why is fire barrier a major problem for healthcare facilities

Compliant fire barrier has continued to be a persistent battle within the ceilings and walls of healthcare facilities. Construction improvements and equipment installations within healthcare buildings are essential for the overall operations of the building, but properly sealed penetrations are critical for keeping occupants safe during a fire-related emergency.

Keeping up with penetrations in need of fire barrier is a persistent battle that takes knowledge, time, and funding to correct. Healthcare facility managers are typically caught in the middle of this battle facing increasingly strict code enforcement and increasingly tighter financial resources. Not only do healthcare facility managers face strict code enforcement and tight budgets, they often face general manpower issues and a lack of experienced fire barrier technicians. Correcting penetrations in large facilities can be a full-time job and with over 5,000 UL systems for properly installing fire barrier, maintaining barriers is challenging.

While maintaining fire barrier within healthcare facilities is challenging, it’s certainly not impossible. We’ve put together a few tips for tackling your facility’s fire barrier challenges based on advice from our highly skilled HILTI and STI-certified technicians.

3 Ways To Tackle Your Firestopping Challenges:

1. If you are not familiar with fire barrier installation techniques, you should seek the help of a specialty contractor. Unlike traditional contractors, specialty fire barrier contractors are specifically trained to install fire barrier systems and maintain assembly ratings. They will have the knowledge and experience to help you choose the correct fire barrier materials and UL systems to address your facility’s penetrations, and will be more efficient throughout the installation process. Finding a Firebarrier Contractors International Association (FCIA) contractor is your best bet on addressing your fire barrier penetrations quickly and easily. Choosing an FCIA contractor like REMEDI8 will also give you added peace of mind knowing that you’ve partnered with a company that knows fire barrier and how to work within healthcare environments.

2. Ensure the installation techniques used to address barrier penetrations are approved and tested to ensure compliance. Fire-barrier penetrations that are not properly addressed and corrected are often a waste of the facility’s time and resources. The requirements for maintaining assembly ratings can be found in UL directories and by testing agencies. While some penetrations may be simple to correct, there are UL systems that become highly complex when the penetrating item, assembly rating, fire barrier materials being used, and other factors are all taken into consideration. Following these UL systems specifications closely and accurately is critical to ensuring compliance and your ability to maintain your assembly’s fire rating.

3. It is important for facilities to be proactive with their plans for addressing fire barrier penetrations. For example, putting a ceiling permit program in place will help ensure that you’re aware of activity happening within the facility that could compromise your fire barriers before the damage is done. Keeping up-to-date life safety plans on hand is another proactive step facilities should take. Knowing where penetrations are located within the facility will save time when work is being done and will allow fire barriers to be addressed as needed.

4. Depending on the size and resources available to the facility, ceiling permit programs, and risk management systems may not be an option. If this is the case, putting in place a fire barrier maintenance program for your facility could be extremely beneficial. Addressing different floors, buildings, or zones of your facility on a monthly or quarterly basis allows your fire barriers to be maintained on a regular basis without overwhelming your resources. A fire barrier maintenance program could allow your facility to ultimately perform a complete facility barrier remediation with the costs being spread out over a year, making fire barrier compliance more affordable and realistic in these situations.
If your facility is in need of assistance maintaining fire barrier penetrations, REMEDI8 is ready to assist you. We are a specialty fire and life safety contractor and an active FCIA member that is dedicated to helping healthcare facilities stay safe and compliant. Contact us today to learn more about our fire barrier services or to receive a free quote.

Door Hardware

Fire Doors and What You Need to Know: Types, Inspections, and Repairs

Whether you’re managing a healthcare facility, manufacturing facility, or multi-unit residential facility, maintaining your fire doors is critical to the success of your life safety and fire barrier management programs. Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) like The Joint Commission, DNV, local fire marshals and others have strict and specific requirements not only for how fire doors must operate while in service, but also for how often fire-rated doors are inspected and repaired to be considered compliant, and how the inspection and repairs are documented for proof of compliance.

Should an AHJ survey a facility and find fire doors that have not been corrected, the facility could be at risk of having the non-compliant areas closed until the deficiencies are corrected per NFPA and AHJ standards. This may seem like an extreme reaction, however, if the fire doors and barriers within an important building like a hospital are not properly working and a fire breaks out, it could spread throughout the hospital in minutes resulting in devasting consequences.

What is a fire-rated door? Is there more than one type?
A fire door is a door with a fire-resistance rating used to mitigate the spread of fire and smoke for a specific period of time. Fire doors are one of many integral components that make up a passive fire protection system and must be installed in a rated door frame any time a door is built into a fire-rated wall.

There are a variety of different types of fire doors, with different fire resistance ratings. A fire door that is compliant with NFPA 80 standards can mitigate the spread of fire and smoke for 20 minutes up to 180 minutes depending on the door’s rating. A fire door’s type and rating usually vary throughout a facility depending on where the door is located and what the area is used for.

If you’re not sure where your fire-rated walls and doors are located, check your facility’s life safety drawings. It is important to keep a set of up-to-date life safety plans on hand to make determining where your fire-rated walls and doors are located as easy as possible. Without knowing where your fire-rated doors are, what kind of fire-rated doors you have, and the purpose of your rated doors, it is exceptionally difficult to meet the standards set forth by AHJs.

Fire Door Inspection & Repair Requirements
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has set strict guidelines for how a fire-rated door is inspected, maintained, and repaired for the door to be considered compliant. Facilities must adhere to the fire door requirements outlined in the NFPA’s codebook, NFPA 80. NFPA 80 addresses legal requirements regarding fire-rated doors and dampers, as well as, how different components of the door, such as door closers, hinges, smoke seals, etc, should be installed and maintained. Because the codes and standards outlined in NFPA 80 are expansive and the consequences for non-compliance are high, it has become common and often necessary for facilities to partner with fire code compliance experts when it comes to fire-rated doors to ensure their barriers are compliant.

According to NFPA 80, “all fire door assemblies require annual inspections”. Additionally, facilities are required to have an annual inspection program in place for fire door assemblies. Inspections can be performed by anyone with expert knowledge and understanding of fire door assemblies and the required codes, however, we recommend utilizing an inspector or specialty contractor that is FDAI or CFDAI certified. A qualified inspector will conduct their inspections per NFPA 80 while the AHJ will verify that the building’s door assemblies are being inspected and maintained per requirements.

While inspections can be performed by any qualified inspector or 3rd party vendor, the NFPA states that fire door repairs must be performed by experts who have been specifically trained to do so. Fire door repairs are complicated but critical for ensuring the door performs the way it was designed to during a fire/smoke emergency. For example, a fire door with correctly installed and compliant hardware can’t stop fire and smoke if the repair technician fails to install a smoke seal on the door frame per the manufacturer’s specifications. Similarly, a fire door with correctly installed and compliant latching hardware can’t stop a fire and smoke if the repair technician fails to install the correct closers (more on closers below). It’s these details and more that make the NFPA state that only “qualified persons” can perform repairs on fire doors, and what makes managing fire door compliance so challenging for facility and property managers.

Fire Door Closers
NFPA 80 requires that “fire doors and other opening protectives are operable at all times. The operability of these systems includes opening, closing, and latching. Fire doors must be kept closed and latched or arranged to provide automatic closing during the time of a fire. In addition, blocking or wedging of doors in the open position is prohibited, as it violates the required operation and closing feature of the door.” One of the most common door deficiencies that our experts see is fire doors failing to fully close, so we wanted to take a moment to address 3 common types of door closers.

Self-Closing Doors – NFPA 80 3.3.101 states “Doors that, when opened and released, return to the closed position.” This essentially means that when a self-closing door is pushed open, its closing arm will immediately return the door to its original closed position. These types of doors should always be closed except when someone walks through the door.

Automatic-Closing Doors – NFPA 80 3.3.6 – 3.3.7 states “a door that normally is open but that closes when the automatic-closing device is activated.” This means that automatic closing doors are typically open but will automatically close when activated by a fusible link or detector. Fusible links are activated by heat; when the link is exposed to heat it melts and releases the automatic-closing door allowing it to close. The alternative and more reliable trigger is a smoke detector; automatic-closing doors can be activated to close as soon as a smoke detector detects smoke. Per NFPA code, automatic-closing doors must meet the following criteria in order to be used in any given area of a facility.

  • The leaf becomes self-closing upon release of the hold-open mechanism
  • The release device is designed in a way that allows the leaf to instantly release manually and once released becomes self-closing or can be readily closed
  • The automated release mechanism is activated by an approved smoke detector that has been installed per NFPA 72 requirements for smoke detectors for door leaf release service
  • Should a hold-open device lose power, the device will release to allow the door leaf to become self-closing
  • Smoke detection of one door leaf in a stair enclosure will result in closing all door leaves that service the set of stairs

Power-Operated Doors are doors that are open and closed electronically or pneumatically. According to REMEDI8, “these types of doors must be equipped with a releasing device that will automatically disconnect the power operator during a fire emergency allowing a self-closing or automatic device to close the door regardless of power failure or manual operation”. This requirement means all power-operated fire doors must be integrated with the building’s approved fire alarm system so that the fire alarm can deactivate and close open doors during a power failure.
Having a preventative door maintenance program in place with a partner like REMEDI8, eases the burden of keeping up with your facility’s doors, reduces the risk of unexpected repairs, and saves your facility money year-over-year on compliance-related costs. Contact us today to begin planning your next fire-rated door service to ensure compliance and safety within your facility.

Barrier Companies has acquired Fire Door Solutions and United Fire Door Inspection

Barrier Companies has acquired two fire and life safety compliance businesses with national service capability. Fire Door Solutions is a leading provider of fire and life safety compliance services and solutions primarily for the healthcare facility market nationwide, while United Fire Door Inspection is a specialized provider of inspection services in the Southeast.

Founded in 2013, Fire Door Solutions provides fire door, damper, and firestop inspection and repair services and related consulting and facilities management services. The Company is led by CEO Mickey Eberts, an industry veteran with over 25 years of experience in healthcare facilities management who will remain with the business post-transaction. United Fire Door Inspection, founded in 2013, is a provider of fire door inspections and maintenance. These are transformative acquisitions for Barrier and bring together some of the leading players in the fire and life safety space.

“The acquisition of these well-respected and market-leading companies is a continuation of Barrier’s strategy to build a nationwide footprint and enhance its fire safety solutions to serve customers,” said David Corbin, Barrier CEO. “We are very excited about the additional value these well-performing businesses will bring to Barrier as we raise its industry profile across the country,” said Eberts.

Fire Door Solutions and United Fire Door Inspection are the second and third acquisitions for Barrier since Lincolnshire invested in the company 18 months ago. Barrier’s first acquisition was PREVENT, a fire and life safety company serving customers primarily in healthcare settings throughout California, Texas, and Arizona in November 2021.

“The goal is to create a leading nationwide platform company providing the best assortment of fire and life safety compliance services to its customers,” said John Comino, a Managing Director at Lincolnshire Management. “These services are critical for healthcare facilities to remain in compliance and maintain good standing to receive federal funding.”

“We believe Fire Door Solutions and United Fire Door Inspection bring important new capabilities and geographic reach to the Barrier family of companies,” said Tad Nedeau, a Managing Director at Lincolnshire Management. “Through these acquisitions and future acquisitions, the company has a well-developed national footprint with fire and life safety services offered to customers in all 50 states.”

Understanding Fire Dampers and Where You Should Look to Install Them

Before understanding fire damper installations, it is important to first be familiar with fire dampers in general as fire dampers are a key component in life safety compliance and passive fire protection systems.

What are fire dampers?

Fire dampers are passive fire protection products that are used in ventilation ductwork that crosses a fire-resistance-rated internal wall to prevent the spread of fire inside the ductwork of a facility. During fire-related emergencies it’s possible that a duct will undergo severe fire exposure; if the exposure is prolonged it’s also possible that the duct will collapse or become deformed resulting in openings in the fire barrier. In these emergency situations, the duct’s fire damper would serve as an additional protection method for these openings and penetrations. Fire dampers constrict the flow of air from the source of the fire by automatically closing when heat is detected, usually by a fusible link or heat detector. Fire Dampers have hourly fire ratings (typically 90 or 180 minutes) that determine how long the damper can withstand extreme temperatures.

Per NFPA code, fire dampers are required to close against the maximum calculated airflow of that portion of the system in which they are installed. Fire dampers that close under airflow should be labeled for use in dynamic HVAC systems while dampers that close after airflow has stopped by automatically shutting down airflow in the event of a fire should be labeled for use in static HVAC systems.

Where should you install fire dampers?

Before you start installing a fire damper, be sure that you are following the manufacturer’s specifications. Like many fire barrier products, fire dampers must be installed according to the manufacturer’s installation instructions and their listing to ensure proper installation. We recommend hiring skilled fire barrier technicians with proven experience installing fire and smoke dampers per code compliance.

According to the NFPA, “fire dampers are installed in ducts passing through or in air outlet openings terminating at shaft walls, fire barriers (such as an occupancy separation wall, horizontal exit walls, corridor walls, corridor ceilings, floor-ceiling assemblies) and other fire resistance–rated assemblies as required by a building or life safety code and other applicable standards”.

It is important to remember that when installing a fire damper, accessibility after installation is required for future inspections, testing, and maintenance. Depending on the location of the damper, accessibility may not be possible due to general space limitations or new construction projects that have restricted access to the damper. In these situations, the damper must be a single or multi-blade damper that complies with the NFPA’s remote inspection requirements.

What about after installation?

Once the fire damper is installed, an operational test must be performed to confirm the damper operates as intended. We highly recommend this test be completed by a skilled and experienced fire damper technician. You may be required to conduct the operational test under normal HVAC airflow and non-airflow conditions; the damper should fully close under both conditions.

The operational test will ensure the following:

  • The damper is installed correctly within the air distribution system and is fully functional
  • The damper closes completely without obstructions
  • The damper contains all of the correct components and devices as part of its assembly

REMEDI8’s highly skilled and experienced technicians can assist your facility with fire dampers, as well as, deliver the required reporting to keep your facility compliant. Contact us today to get started.

Barrier Companies has Acquired PREVENT

We at Barrier Companies are thrilled to announce the acquisition of PREVENT, a fire and life safety services company that offers complementary services in healthcare settings throughout California, Texas, and Arizona. PREVENT will operate under its own brand alongside the Barrier Companies entities and will be led by Jodi Clem, who continues as President. PREVENT founder/owner Dennis Cohan, will transition into a Barrier Companies board membership role by the end of 2021.

Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Livermore, California, PREVENT specializes in fire barrier management and fire code compliance within healthcare environments. They are a leading, single-source specialist and address the full life cycle from new build through ongoing inspections, compliance, and maintenance. In 1999, PREVENT developed The Solution™ line of mobile HEPA containment units, which prevent the spread of dust and harmful particles from entering occupied spaces during construction or maintenance work above the ceiling.

“PREVENT has a stellar reputation in this large and growing market; the addition of their healthcare expertise and reach will enhance Barrier’s position as a national market leader across industries. We look forward to working with the PREVENT team and adding their technical expertise and essential scope of services to our work with clients.”

The market for building fire and life safety compliance services is expected to continue growing, presenting additional organic and consolidation opportunities for Barrier Companies. The total addressable market for compliance-related services is estimated at $26 billion, with healthcare accounting for half of that amount. Given the potential consequences of non-compliance with strict regulatory requirements, and in light of increasing government scrutiny, hospitals’ demand for specialist help is expected to accelerate and the expertise needed to maintain compliance is often beyond the scope of smaller, local providers.

“Our geographic footprint is highly complementary to Barrier and joining forces will help both companies achieve accelerated growth as we cross-sell services in key markets to meet the needs of clients,” said Clem, President at PREVENT. “We partner with some of the most impressive healthcare facilities in the U.S., from small surgical centers to university teaching hospitals to nationally acclaimed, multi-campus facilities. We look forward to continuing to provide our clients with best-in-class fire compartmentation management services while expanding our service offerings as part of Barrier Companies.

Top 3 Reasons for Fire Door Inspection Failures

Over the last 20 years, REMEDI8 subsidiaries have inspected and repaired hundreds of thousands of fire doors. During a fire door inspection, we log every door and over time we have noticed a pattern across our fire door inspection reports. On average, 75% of fire doors fail inspection. The fire door technicians find that the majority of these failures fall into three categories:

  1. Clearance – Door hinges are a common piece of a fire door assembly that can wear over time. Heavy wear can often be seen in a fire door that seems to “sag”. These sagging doors have increased clearance between the door and frame which will result in inspection failure. General use, as well as impacts from carts, patient beds, and other equipment, can cause misalignment as well which will result in a clearance problem that will cause a fire door to fail inspection.
  2. Smoke Seal – The smoke seal is required in most fire door openings to prevent and restrict the passage of smoke as well as draft control. With openings in high traffic areas, doors will see a greater number of failures due to damage to the smoke seal such as rips or tears. Improper installation of the smoke seal is often seen as well and will cause a door to fail inspection. This typically includes shortening of the smoke seal, a smoke seal that has been installed in the wrong direction, or a smoke seal that has been covered in paint from either the doors or frames being repainted.
  3. Holes & breaks – Fire doors in high traffic areas often see increased damage due to carts, patient beds, and other equipment. Wood doors tend to see more damage than metal doors, however, metal doors can still be dented or bent in ways that interfere with full closure, that will not latch properly, will not have a proper seal, or as we already discussed will have clearance issues. Failures involving breaks, cracks, dents, and bends are likely prone to a door replacement.

It is always good practice to Inspect fire door assemblies after installation and maintenance work. Annual inspections with certified reporting will help to ensure that the door, frame, hardware, and glazing are installed properly and will continue to function as intended if a fire occurs. Keep in mind that documentation of the door inspection, repairs, and testing activities is required at least annually for compliance with The Joint Commission (TJC) (EC.02.03.05 EP 25), NFPA 80, and/or your local AHJ.

REMEDI8 certified door technicians will conduct the multi-point inspection of all door assemblies as prescribed by the fire code, produce a detailed report of the current condition, and submit a formal recommendation for necessary repairs. Our team can immediately remedy any failures, re-test, and provide the required documentation to keep the facility up to code. Let REMEDI8 experienced Door Technicians take fire door compliance off your plate. Schedule your annual door inspection today!

Fire Door Label

#1 Reason Fire Doors Fail Their Inspection (Plus Reliable Ways to Avoid It)

Unfortunately, a door that passes all other points of its inspection will still be marked as a failed door if labels are missing. According to the NFPA, “labels on fire doors, fire door frames, or other components of a fire door assembly, are the identifying mark that the door or component has been tested to the required first test standards and has passed the criteria required by those test standards.” Rated-labels include key information about its assembly such as a unique ID number, the hourly rating, and the manufacturer. Without the required labels, there is no clear indication of whether or not a fire-rated door and frame are in-fact a fire-rated door or frame.

The hourly rating on a rated-label is critical for creating sections of your fire barriers as doors are typically rated for three-fourths of the surrounding wall’s rating. According to SDI, “a 3-hour fire door is used in a 4-hour rated wall; a 1-1/2-hour fire door is used in a 2-hour rated wall, and a 3/4-hour door is used in a one-hour rated wall.” A notable exception to the three-fourths rule is for 1/3-hour rated doors which are also used in one-hour rated walls. Without rated labels indicating the hourly ratings for door assemblies, it would be exceptionally difficult to ensure that door assemblies are being maintained throughout a facility according to code requirements.

What can you do if a fire door’s label is missing?

While it’s not uncommon for a fire door to fail its inspection due to missing labels (especially for doors located in high-traffic areas), it is an easy fix to get the door compliant again. Assuming the fire-rated door assembly has passed all other points of its inspection, the door can be re-certified once a new label is created and applied to the door and/or frame.

Another common occurrence our technicians see within facilities is rated-door assemblies that have labels that are no longer legible or have been painted over. Labels on door assemblies in high-traffic areas will inevitably suffer from wear and tear and may become illegible over time. This is an easy fix as a new label can be generated for the door. Labels that have been painted over, however, will continue to be an issue if staff and 3rd parties responsible for painting are not educated on the facility’s requirements for fire door labels. It’s important to educate responsible parties when painting is being done to help ensure code compliance.

Whether you’re managing a healthcare facility, manufacturing facility, or multi-unit residential facility, maintaining your fire doors is critical to the success of your life safety and fire barrier management programs. Contact us today to begin planning your next fire-rated door inspection to ensure compliance and safety within your fac