Description

Certain end users may require doors to be used more frequently and be subject to more physical abuse than others eg in schools or hospital corridors. In such cases it is vital that these doors are durable so that they will be able to continue to perform their everyday function as well as maintain their fire resistance or security functions if required.

Depending on their location and application, doors must withstand varying levels of traffic and abuse. A door in a cross corridor of a school, for example, is subject to heavy traffic and abuse, while a classroom door in the same school must withstand the same kind of abuse but with less frequency. While the entrance door to a large office block has a lot of traffic, but generally lower levels of abuse, a door within that office is likely to have both low levels of traffic and abuse.

Manufacturers and facility managers have to consider such factors when trying to identify the performance levels of doors they are producing or selecting. Doors may be over-engineered or under-specified, or vice versa, as a result.

Chiltern Dynamics and BM TRADA have developed a testing programme and certification scheme to classify doorsets for service life and allow doors to be manufactured and specified to meet the needs of their end-use application with minimal maintenance.