Firedoors

FireDoors (EI doors) have the purpose to impede the spread of flames. Therefore, they are part of a more complex system of passive defense aimed to limit the diffusion of fire and smoke among compartments. They are also safe emergency exit.

As a specialist in the production of steel doors, Novoferm provides a wide range of FireDoors that have been tested and certified: Elite+ doors, Elite+ Scudo doors (elegant and safe), and Magnum doors (big size FireDoors).

Classification fire doors: REI or EI?

A fire door  need to achieve two key features:

  • Self-closing: the door should close by itself through devices like spring hinges, door closers or the counterweight in case of sliding gates.
  • Fire resistance of a closing element is expressed with an interval in minutes, during which the door retains its sealing properties and/or insulation.

There are different regulations to determine the rating of fire doors:

  • European standard EN 16034
  • National regulations, for Italy it’s UNI 9723

European and Italian regulations are very similar: they give a similar classification that can be summarized here ("EI" for the EN 16034, "REI" for the UNI 9723):

  • Resistance: the load-bearing capacity of an element, to be maintained in case of fire (not applicable for fire doors, in fact removed in European Norm).
  • Hermetic: that is, the ability to hold the fire. Does not mean that the door is “sealed”, as suggested by the common sense of the term.
  • Thermal Insulation: that is, the ability to reduce the transmission of heat towards the face not exposed to fire.
Curiosity:

According to the Italian Regulation GU 155/2004

  • A test in compliance with UNI 9723 generates a REIxx classification that will be approved by the Ministry as REIxx.
  • A test according to EN 1634 generates a classification EI2xx that will be approved by the Ministry as REIxx.

Therefore, fundamentally different products in terms of generation (standards EN significantly more recent) may be difficult to distinguish (same Ministry classification).