14B.2.7 Openings in "A" class divisions

  14B.2.7.1 Except for hatches between store and baggage spaces, and between such spaces and the weather decks, all openings should be provided with permanently attached means of closing which should be at least as effective for resisting fires as the divisions in which they are fitted.

  14B.2.7.2 The construction of all doors and door frames in "A" class divisions, with the means of securing them when closed, should provide resistance to fire as well as the passage of smoke and flame, as far as practical, equivalent to that of the bulkheads in which the doors are situated.

Such doors and door frames should be constructed of steel or other equivalent material. Sliding steel watertight doors need not be insulated.

  14B.2.7.3 It should be possible for each door to be opened and closed from each side of the bulkhead by one person only.

  14B.2.7.4 Fire doors in main vertical zone bulkheads, galley boundaries and stairway enclosures other than power-operated watertight doors and those which are normally locked, should satisfy the following requirements:

• (a) the doors should be self-closing and be capable of closing with an angle of inclination of up to 3.5° opposing closure;

• (b) the approximate time of closure for hinged fire doors should be no more than 40 seconds and no less than 10 seconds from the beginning of their movement with the ship in the upright position. The approximate uniform rate of closure for sliding doors should be of no more than 0.2 m/s and no less than 0.1 m/s with the ship in the upright position;

• (c) the doors, except those for emergency escape trunks, should be capable of remote release from the continuously manned central control station, either simultaneously or in groups and should also be capable of release, individually, from a position at the door. Release switches should have an on-off function to prevent automatic resetting of the system;

• (d) hold-back hooks not subject to central control station release are prohibited;

• (e) a door closed remotely from the central control station should be capable of being re-opened from both sides of the door by local control. After such local opening, the door should automatically close again;

• (f) indication must be provided at the fire door indicator panel in the continuously manned central control station whether each door is closed;

• (g) the release mechanism should be so designed that the door will automatically close in the event of disruption of the control system or central power supply;

• (h) local power accumulators for power-operated doors should be provided in the immediate vicinity of the doors to enable the doors to be operated after disruption of the control system or central power supply at least ten times (fully opened and closed) using the local controls;

• (i) disruption of the control system or central power supply at one door should not impair the safe functioning of the other doors;

• (j) remote-released sliding or power-operated doors should be equipped with an alarm that sounds at least 5s but no more than 10s after the door being released from the central control station and before the door begins to move and continues sounding until the door is completely closed;

• (k) a door designed to re-open upon contacting an object in its path should re-open not more than 1 m from the point of contact;

• (l) double-leaf doors equipped with a latch necessary for their fire integrity should have a latch that is automatically activated by the operation of the doors when released by the system;

• (m) the components of the local control system should be accessible for maintenance and adjusting;

• (n) power-operated doors should be provided with a control system of an approved type which should be able to operate in case of fire and be in accordance with the Fire Test Procedures Code. This system should satisfy the following requirements:

  • the control system should be able to operate the door at the temperature of at least 200°C for at least 60 min, served by the power supply;
  • the power supply for all other doors not subject to fire should not be impaired; and
  • at temperatures exceeding 200°C the control system should be automatically isolated from the power supply and should be capable of keeping the door closed up to at least 945°C.

  14B.2.7.5 Where 'A' Class divisions are penetrated for the passage of electric cables, pipes, trunks, ducts, etc., or for girders, beams or other structural members, arrangements are to be made to ensure that the fire resistance is not impaired.