Under various state regulations around Australia, smoke doors have been nominated for use in older type buildings for decades. It is only just recently that the Building Code of Australia (BCA) and AS 1851-2005 Maintenance of fire protection systems and equipment, have significantly upgraded the provisions relative to installation, maintenance and smoke door inspections requirements for smoke doors.
The Building Code of Australia (and building surveyor) determines the location of smoke doors in a building. A significant number of smoke doors are installed as part of an alternative solution under the BCA (and may have to comply with AS 1851 smoke door inspections) and may be located in a building where not expected. BCA specification C3.4 clause 3 Smoke Doors, provide the construction details for smoke doors as follows:
3. SMOKE DOORS
3.1 General requirements
Smoke doors must be constructed so that smoke will not pass from one side of the smoke door to the other and, if the smoke doors are glazed, there is minimal danger of a person being injured by accidentally walking into them.
3.2 Construction deemed-to-satisfy
A smoke door of one or two leaves satisfies Clause 3.1 if it is constructed as follows:
(a) The leaves are side-hung to swing-
(i) in the direction of egress; or
(ii) in both directions.
(b)
(i) The leaves are capable of resisting smoke at 200°C for 30 minutes.
(ii) Solid-core leaves at least 35 mm thick satisfy (i).
(c) The leaves are fitted with smoke seals.
(d)
(i) The leaves are normally in the closed position; or
(ii)
(A) The leaves are closed automatically with the automatic closing operation initiated by smoke detectors, installed in accordance with the relevant provisions of AS 1670.1, located on each side of the doorway not more than 1.5 m horizontal distance from the doorway; and
(B) in the event of power failure to the door, the leaves fail-safe in the closed position.
(e) The leaves return to the fully closed position after each manual opening.
(f) Any glazing incorporated in the door complies with AS 1288.
(g)
(i) If a glazed panel is capable of being mistaken for an unobstructed exit, part C specifies lass must be identified by opaque construction.
(ii) An opaque mid-height band, mid-rail or crash bar satisfies (i).
If your building is constructed in a State that requires maintenance of essential safety measures (smoke door inspections) to comply with Australian Standards (ie: AS 1851), then a statutory document ( essential safety measures determination/schedules) will probably exist on your building nominating the performance standard for maintenance of smoke doors and the number of smoke door inspections. Those states which have a Schedule nominating the number of smoke door inspections in their maintenance requirements for essential safety measures will most certainly call up AS 1851-2005 for the maintenance criteria for smoke doors.
Table 17.4.4 in AS 1851-2005 headed "Inspection, Test, Preventative Maintenance, Survey and Records Schedule - For Hinged and Pivoted Smoke Doors", provides 4 full pages of items to be inspected and tested on smoke doors during smoke door inspections. All smoke doors items nominated require 3, 6 and 12 monthly smoke door inspections frequency under AS 1851.
For those managers whose state regulations do not nominate AS 1851-2005 as the maintenance standard for smoke doors, they should seriously consider adopting AS 1851 to safe guard the building owner's interests in case they are called to account by an authority requesting to view the essential safety measures logbook, which would detail all the smoke door inspections.