Fire Test – M100 Performance Wall System with Integral Door Set

Continuing with our extensive R&D programme, we have now successfully fire tested our M100 performance wall system with an integral door set. Never wanting to take the easy route, we tested a 2.5m high, 2.2m wide, glazed, double door but the trick element was that it was unlatched and with a rebate-less meeting stile.

Our target performance was to achieve 60 minutes integrity to BS 476: Part 22 and we managed this with a near 20% overrun which will give us scope for future assessment.  Again, with some smart engineering and the right choice of materials we achieved this fantastic result. Never to rest on our laurels though, we have further testing of doors planned in the near future with differing configurations and conditions to give us a complete performance solution to our relocatable partition walls.

Many manufacturers will tell you that they have certification for their door sets; what they forget to tell you is that these door sets have only ever been tested in brick or block-work and aren’t actually valid within their partition wall systems. Brick and block-work do not deflect during a fire; partition wall systems, especially steel based ones, do and by quite a significant amount. The clever part is to engineer the door set to deflect in conjunction with the partition wall system so that the two elements work in harmony – Fire is a killer and performance walls should be thoroughly designed and engineered without compromise or corner cutting. Ask to see evidence of how the walls and doors were tested when choosing your partition wall and door provider.