Fire Door Ratings & Q-Mark Fire Door Identification Plugs
Ahmarra Door Solutions Ltd
Design, manufacture and installation of commercial and residential door solutions.
Fire ratings represent the period of time a door is furnace tested to and anticipated to perform in the event of a fire.
Manufacturers of fire doorsets have a legal requirement to demonstrate the ability of doors to resist the passage and spread of fire.
Fire Door Ratings are Defined as;
Fire doors that are manufactured under the BM TRADA Q-Mark Fire Door Manufacture scheme, a third-party certification body, feature fire door identification plug(s). The plugs are usually fitted on the centreline of the hinge edge of the door, just below the top hinge at around eye level or the frame rebate.
These plugs give specifiers and building owners a way of establishing that the door is certified.
Q-Mark fire door plugs come in two sections - the outer circle and inner tree, both of which are colour coded to indicate the status of certification. The outer circle colour of a plug signifies the period of fire resistance in minutes and the inner tree colour signifies the status of manufacture. The tree also features the member’s unique certified company number.
Plug Outer Colours: Period of Fire Resistance
Yellow Outer Circle
FD30 - 30 minutes fire integrity period.
Used for either a leaf, frame or complete doorset.
Blue Outer Circle
FD60 - 60 minutes fire integrity period.
Used for either a leaf, frame or complete doorset.
Brown Outer Circle
FD90 - 90 minutes fire integrity period.
Used for a complete doorset only.
Black Outer Circle
FD120 - 120 minutes fire integrity period.
Used for a complete doorset only.
Inner Tree Colour: Approved Elements
The inner tree must be fitted within the appropriate circular outer plug to a door leaf (leaf manufacture only) or door frame (frame manufacture only) to identify that it is a Q-Mark approved door leaf or door frame.
Red Tree
Approved door leaf and/or frame* (FD30 and FD60 only).
Intumescent strips not supplied.
The door leaf or door frame will not be in a finished state. The required intumescent strips will either not have been prepared for or be supplied at this stage.
Green Tree
Approved door leaf and/or frame* (FD30 and FD60 only).
Intumescent strips prepared for and supplied.
The door leaf or door frame may not be in a finished state. It must be fully prepared for all the required intumescent strips around the perimeter gap, which can be either fitted or supplied loose but must be supplied.
Orange Tree
Approved factory fitted glazing.
This plug is in addition to all other required plugs, to identify that glazing has been correctly specified and fitted to the door leaf by a Q-Mark certified fire door manufacturer.
Silver Tree
Complete doorset - Q-Mark certified for fire only.
This plug signifies that it is a complete pre-hung doorset - both the door leaf and frame must have been physically quality checked together as a matched pair in the factory.
WhiteTree
Complete doorset - Q-Mark certified for fire and smoke control.
This plug signifies that it is a complete pre-hung doorset - both the door leaf and frame must have been physically quality checked together as a matched pair in the factory.
Gold Tree
Certified installation of a complete factory hung doorset.
This is in addition to all other plugs previously fitted to the doorset, and signifies that it has been installed under the supervision of a Q-Mark Approved Installer.
*Where the frame and door leaf are produced by separate Q-Mark companies, both the frame and the door leaf must have their own red/green inner tree plug.
Fire Door Identification Plug Example
Let’s use the fire doorset in the photo below as an example.
This doorset has an FD30 fire rating - it provides 30 minutes of fire resistance - indicated by the outer yellow circle of the plugs.
The top plug features a silver inner tree which indicates that this door is a factory hung doorset (a complete unit consisting of a door frame and door leaf, supplied with all essential parts from a single source).
The middle plug features an orange inner tree which indicates that the door features factory fitted glazing (a vision panel).
The bottom plug features a gold inner tree which indicates that the door has been installed by a Q-Mark Fire Door Installation scheme certified installer.
This article provides a brief overview of BM TRADA Q-Mark fire door identification plugs. For a full explanation, please visit BM TRADA’s website; https://www.bmtrada.com/resources/what-is-a-fire-door-plug
Or for further guidance and advice about fire door specification, please contact our team.
Call: 02392 389 076
Visit: www.ahmarra.co.uk
Email: [email protected]