Fire doors are a unique proposition. in many places, fire doors crash, slam and bang all day and the residents of the building think they have to put up with the noise. That is no longer the case.
Each fire door has to be tested and approved prior to any alterations or additions to the hardware or configuration. We are approved, at the moment, for Doors N More 30 minute Inferno fire door only. If you have this door, you are in luck. If you don't, please contact us at the details below to discuss your situation.
The most common retort we get from fire professionals when we talk about fire doors around the world is that "In xxx, there is a requirement that doors must close. SoftSlam will prevent the door from closing so it will never get approved for doors in xxx." There is nothing correct about this statement. These fire professionals are very knowledgeable and they are professionals but they have never seen SoftSlam nor do they understand how it works.
First, I have not come across a country yet that would not be able to take the place of xxx in the sentence above. All fire codes in all countries are the same in this regard. If the door does not close, it is not a fire door, it is a chimney. We passed this test in little old backwards New Zealand. No, New Zealand is not backwards and yes, the door did close.
SoftSlam never stops a door from closing. There are a lot of slam protection devices available that do prevent doors from closing. We don't like those. Why have a door if you can't use it. If SoftSlam were to fail for some reason, the force reduction mechanism would shear and the door would be able to close freely.
Recently, in New York, there was an apartment fire. The fire department blamed the spread of the flames on a door that did not close properly. I have visited many tenement houses. I can tell you what the most likely scenario for the door not closing is - someone propped it open so they could slip in the back door with out using their key. Another issue that I witness on many occasions is that the occupants of the building disable their door closers because it caused the door to slam or they were set so that it was too hard to open the door.
SoftSlam can eliminate both of the latter conditions. Only education can eliminate the former.
Because SoftSlam takes the vibrations and force out of the close at the end of the swing, the door closers no longer slam the doors. A quiet latch at the end of the swing is all that you hear. Also because of the lack of vibrations, the door closer does not come out of adjustment once it has been set. We have tested SoftSlam in doors for years under constant use on heavy doors. When the maintenance personnel have to adjust the door closer on a continuous basis, they get frustrated and set it too tight thinking that it will save them a call out in three weeks. (I timed the door to my office to determine how long the adjustment would hold.) It may or may not have that result but what it does is cause the door to be too heavy for the average user to open comfortably. They then make the decision to disable the door closer. Once the door closer is disabled, the door will no longer function as a fire door should putting all occupants of the building at risk.
I am willing to fight this battle for you, with your local fire code official and your door company to make your building a quieter, safer place. All you have to do is call.
Each fire door has to be tested and approved prior to any alterations or additions to the hardware or configuration. We are approved, at the moment, for Doors N More 30 minute Inferno fire door only. If you have this door, you are in luck. If you don't, please contact us at the details below to discuss your situation.
The most common retort we get from fire professionals when we talk about fire doors around the world is that "In xxx, there is a requirement that doors must close. SoftSlam will prevent the door from closing so it will never get approved for doors in xxx." There is nothing correct about this statement. These fire professionals are very knowledgeable and they are professionals but they have never seen SoftSlam nor do they understand how it works.
First, I have not come across a country yet that would not be able to take the place of xxx in the sentence above. All fire codes in all countries are the same in this regard. If the door does not close, it is not a fire door, it is a chimney. We passed this test in little old backwards New Zealand. No, New Zealand is not backwards and yes, the door did close.
SoftSlam never stops a door from closing. There are a lot of slam protection devices available that do prevent doors from closing. We don't like those. Why have a door if you can't use it. If SoftSlam were to fail for some reason, the force reduction mechanism would shear and the door would be able to close freely.
Recently, in New York, there was an apartment fire. The fire department blamed the spread of the flames on a door that did not close properly. I have visited many tenement houses. I can tell you what the most likely scenario for the door not closing is - someone propped it open so they could slip in the back door with out using their key. Another issue that I witness on many occasions is that the occupants of the building disable their door closers because it caused the door to slam or they were set so that it was too hard to open the door.
SoftSlam can eliminate both of the latter conditions. Only education can eliminate the former.
Because SoftSlam takes the vibrations and force out of the close at the end of the swing, the door closers no longer slam the doors. A quiet latch at the end of the swing is all that you hear. Also because of the lack of vibrations, the door closer does not come out of adjustment once it has been set. We have tested SoftSlam in doors for years under constant use on heavy doors. When the maintenance personnel have to adjust the door closer on a continuous basis, they get frustrated and set it too tight thinking that it will save them a call out in three weeks. (I timed the door to my office to determine how long the adjustment would hold.) It may or may not have that result but what it does is cause the door to be too heavy for the average user to open comfortably. They then make the decision to disable the door closer. Once the door closer is disabled, the door will no longer function as a fire door should putting all occupants of the building at risk.
I am willing to fight this battle for you, with your local fire code official and your door company to make your building a quieter, safer place. All you have to do is call.