Requirements for Fire Doors in High-rise Buildings

General Requirements

1. Fire doors located in areas of buildings frequently traversed by people should preferably be of the type that remains open under normal conditions. These doors should automatically close in the event of a fire and must feature signal feedback functionality.

2. Except where the use of normally open fire doors is permitted, all other fire doors should be of the normally closed type. Signs such as “Keep Fire Door Closed” should be conspicuously placed on these doors.

3. With the exception of maintenance doors for shafts and residential unit doors, fire doors should have the capability to close automatically. Double-leaf fire doors must be able to close in sequence automatically.

4. Unless otherwise specified, fire doors should be manually operable from both inside and outside.

5. For doors in high-occupancy venues that normally require controlled access, as well as external doors of residential buildings, dormitories, and apartments with access control systems, it should be possible to easily open them from the inside without the use of keys or any tools in case of a fire. Signs with usage instructions should be placed in prominent locations.

6. When installed near building expansion joints, fire doors should be located on the side with more floors and ensure that the door leaf does not cross the expansion joint when opened.

7. Once closed, fire doors should also provide smoke protection.

Grade A Fire Doors

1. Borrowed Path Requirements

1) For underground or semi-underground factories and warehouses (including basements), when multiple fire compartments are arranged adjacently and separated by fire walls, each fire compartment may use the Grade A fire doors on the fire walls as a second means of egress. However, each fire compartment must have at least one independent exit that leads directly outdoors. (Similar requirements for the use of exits in civil buildings are not listed here.)

2. Underground Shops with a Total Floor Area Greater than 20,000㎡

1) Underground or semi-underground shops larger than 20,000㎡ should be divided into multiple areas, each not exceeding 20,000㎡, by fire walls without doors, windows, or openings, and by floors with a fire resistance rating of at least 2.00 hours. When adjacent areas are partially connected, if connected by smoke-proof staircases, the doors of the staircases should be Grade A fire doors; if connected by fire barriers, the doors should be Grade A fire doors; if connected by refuge corridors, a smoke-protected vestibule with an area of no less than 6.0㎡ should be set up at the entrance from the fire compartment to the refuge corridor, with Grade A fire doors to the vestibule and Grade B fire doors from the vestibule to the refuge corridor.

3. Equipment Room Requirements

1) When attached to civil buildings, boiler rooms, transformer rooms, and other areas should be separated from other parts of the building by fire barriers with a fire resistance rating of at least 2.00 hours and non-combustible floors with a rating of 1.50 hours. When doors or windows are installed in these barriers, they should be Grade A fire doors or windows.

2) When oil storage rooms are set up inside boiler rooms, the total storage should not exceed 1m³, and the rooms should be separated from the boiler room by fire barriers with a fire resistance rating of at least 3.00 hours; if doors are needed in the fire barriers, they should be Grade A fire doors.

3) Diesel generator rooms located within civil buildings should be separated from other parts of the building by fire barriers with a fire resistance rating of at least 2.00 hours and non-combustible floors with a rating of 1.50 hours, with doors being Grade A fire doors. When oil storage rooms are set up inside, the total storage should not exceed 1m³, and the rooms should be separated from the generator room by fire barriers with a fire resistance rating of at least 3.00 hours; if doors are needed in the fire barriers, Grade A fire doors should be installed.

4) Doors from ventilation, air conditioning rooms, and electrical rooms located within buildings to the rest of the building should be Grade A fire doors, while doors from fire control rooms and other equipment rooms should be Grade B fire doors. (For water pump rooms, Grade A doors are required according to the “Code”; if encountered in exams, responses should be based on the specific requirements of the cited code.)

4. Requirements for Refuge Floors’ Duct Shafts and Equipment/Refuge Rooms

1. **Refuge floors can also serve as equipment floors**. Duct shafts and equipment rooms should be separated from the refuge areas by fire barriers with a fire resistance rating of no less than 2.00 hours. Doors of duct shafts and equipment rooms should not open directly into refuge areas. If it is necessary for doors to open directly into refuge areas, they must be located at least 5 meters away from the entrance/exit of the refuge area and must be Grade A fire doors.

5. Storage Tank Requirements

1. **Intermediate storage tanks for Class B liquids within factories** should be located in separate rooms, with a capacity not exceeding 5m³. Rooms housing these intermediate storage tanks should be separated from other areas by fire barriers with a fire resistance rating of at least 3.00 hours and floors with a rating of 1.50 hours. Doors to these rooms should be Grade A fire doors.

2. **Storage tanks for Class B liquid fuels used within buildings** should be situated outside the building. When intermediate tanks are used, their capacity should not exceed 1m³, and they should be located in separate rooms of first or second fire resistance level, with doors being Grade A fire doors.

6. Requirements for Explosion-Proof Door Enclosures

1. **In areas with explosion hazards**, such as stairwells, external stairs, or areas connected to adjacent areas with explosion risks, protective measures like door enclosures should be implemented. The fire barriers of these door enclosures should have a fire resistance rating of at least 2.00 hours, and doors should be Grade A fire doors, positioned in a staggered arrangement with the doors of the stairwells.

7. Other Requirements

1. **Theaters, cinemas, and auditoriums located within other civil buildings** should be separated from other areas by fire barriers with a fire resistance rating of no less than 2.00 hours and Grade A fire doors.

2. **When atriums are set within buildings**, doors and windows connected to the atrium should be Grade A fire doors/windows capable of closing automatically in the event of a fire.

3. **Evacuation corridors at fire compartment locations** should be equipped with normally open Grade A fire doors.

4. **Firefighting elevator shafts and machine rooms** adjacent to other elevator shafts and machine rooms should be separated by fire barriers with a fire resistance rating of at least 2.00 hours, with doors being Grade A fire doors.

5. **Doors from Class A, B, or C intermediate warehouses to factories** should be Grade A fire doors.

Grade B Fire Doors Evacuation Requirements

1. **Elevators leading directly to attached garages within buildings** should have elevator lobbies on the garage level, separated from the garage by fire barriers with a fire resistance rating of at least 2.00 hours and Grade B fire doors.

2. **Residential buildings with a height greater than 27m but not exceeding 54m**, when each unit is equipped with an evacuation staircase, should have staircases leading to the roof, interconnected between units via the roof, with doors being Grade B fire doors.

3. **Residential buildings with a height not exceeding 21m** may use open stairwells; evacuation staircases adjacent to elevator shafts should use enclosed stairwells. When household doors are Grade B fire doors, open stairwells can still be used. Residential buildings with a height greater than 21m and not exceeding 33m should use enclosed stairwells; when household doors are Grade B fire doors, open stairwells can be used. Residential buildings with a height greater than 33m should use smoke-proof stairwells. Household doors should not open directly into the anteroom; when unavoidable, doors opening into the same anteroom on each floor should not exceed three and must be Grade B fire doors.

4. Doors from warehouse fire compartments to evacuation corridors or stairs** should be Grade B fire doors.

5. High-rise buildings, densely populated public buildings, densely populated multi-story Class C factories, and Class A and B factories** should have doors to enclosed stairwells that are Grade B fire doors, opening in the direction of evacuation; other buildings may use double-action spring doors. The first floor of stairwells can include corridors and lobbies to form an expanded enclosed stairwell, but should be separated from other corridors and rooms by Grade B fire doors.

6. Doors leading to external stairs within buildings** should be Grade B fire doors and should open outward.

7. Except for private stairs within residential building units, evacuation stairwells in underground or semi-underground buildings (rooms)** should be separated from other parts of the building by fire barriers with a fire resistance rating of at least 2.00 hours at the ground level and should lead directly outdoors. When doors are necessary in the fire barriers, they should be Grade B fire doors. The underground or semi-underground parts of buildings should not share stairwells with above-ground parts; if shared stairwells are necessary, they should be completely separated by fire barriers with a fire resistance rating of at least 2.00 hours and Grade B fire doors at the ground level, with clear signage.

8. Evacuation corridors leading to anterooms of smoke-proof stairwells and doors from anterooms to smoke-proof stairwells** should be Grade B fire doors.

Office and Rest Room Requirements

1. Offices and rest rooms located within Class C factories** should be separated from other parts by fire barriers with a fire resistance rating of at least 2.50 hours and floors with a rating of 1.00 hour, and should have at least one independent safety exit. If interconnected doors are required in the fire barriers, they should be Grade B fire doors.

2. Offices and rest rooms located within Class C or D warehouses** should be separated from other parts by fire barriers with a fire resistance rating of at least 2.50 hours and floors with a rating of 1.00 hour, and should have an independent safety exit. If interconnected doors are required in the fire barriers, they should be Grade B fire doors.

Other Requirements

1. Adjacent nursing units within the ward buildings of hospitals and sanatoriums** should be separated by firewalls with a fire resistance limit of no less than 2.00 hours. The doors on the partition walls should be Class B fire doors, and the fire doors set in corridors should be normally open fire doors.

2. Between halls and rooms of dance entertainment, projection, and game venues (excluding theaters and cinemas) and with other parts of the building**, firewalls with a fire resistance limit of no less than 2.00 hours and non-combustible floor slabs with a fire resistance limit of no less than 1.00 hour should be used for separation. The doors on the walls of halls and rooms and the doors communicating these places with other parts of the building should all be Class B fire doors.

3. In medical buildings, operating rooms or surgical departments, delivery rooms, intensive care units, rooms for valuable and precision medical equipment, storage rooms, laboratories, film rooms, as well as child care rooms and children’s playrooms in attached nurseries or kindergartens, and elderly care facilities**, should be separated from other places or parts by firewalls with a fire resistance limit of no less than 2.00 hours and floor slabs with a fire resistance limit of no less than 1.00 hour. The necessary doors and windows on the walls should be Class B fire doors and windows.

4. The partition wall between the stage upper part and the audience hall ceiling** can be a firewall with a fire resistance limit of no less than 1.50 hours, and the doors on the partition wall should be Class B fire doors.

5. Except for fire elevators set in warehouse corridors, cold storage passages, or grain silo work towers**, fire elevators should have anterooms, and the doors of the anteroom or shared anteroom should be Class B fire doors, and roller shutters should not be installed.

6. The following parts within a building should be separated from other parts by firewalls with a fire resistance limit of no less than 2.00 hours**, and the doors and windows on the walls should be Class B fire doors and windows. If there is difficulty, fire shutters may be used, but they must comply with relevant regulations:
– Class A and B production areas and areas within the building using Class C liquids.
– Areas within factories that have open flames and high temperatures.
– Rooms within Class A, B, and C factories (warehouses) that are arranged with different fire hazard categories.
– Ancillary storerooms within civil buildings, auxiliary rooms behind theaters.
– Public kitchens in dormitories and apartment buildings and kitchens in other buildings, except for kitchens within residential units.
– Garages attached to residential buildings.

7. Doors opening from Class D and E intermediate warehouses to factories** should be Class B fire doors.

Class C Fire Doors

Vertical shafts such as cable shafts, pipeline shafts, smoke exhaust ducts, exhaust ducts, and garbage chutes should be set up independently. The fire resistance limit of the shaft walls should not be less than 1.00 hour, and the inspection doors on the shaft walls should be Class C fire doors.

1. **Vertical shafts such as cable shafts, pipeline shafts, smoke exhaust ducts, exhaust ducts, and garbage chutes** should be set up independently. The fire resistance limit of the shaft walls should not be less than 1.00 hour, and the inspection doors on the shaft walls should be Class C fire doors.