Fire safety-close doors at night or leave open?

We live in a standard 4-bed two storey detatched house. At night, I believe we should close the doors downstairs that lead into the hallway (sittingroom and kitchen). However, my husband and my friend believe that they should be left open.
My argument is, that if there was a fire, a small amount of smoke would make its way out under the doors, set the fire alarm in the hall off and give the inhabitants of the house (who are presumably asleep upstairs) plenty of time to get out.
Their argument on the other hand is, that if the doors are left open, the smoke detector will go off much sooner, thereby allowing the inahbitants to get out before the fire actually takes hold at all.
I think both arguments are valid. What do the experts say?

The experts and Irish building Regulations (Part B- Fire Safety) say that doors should be kept closed to keep smoke at bay and ensure that persons have more time to escape in the event of fire, as the fire doors keep protected areas from becoming smoke logged too quickly. In all other types of building (other than single family homes) fire doors must be fitted with automatic self-closing devices (overhead door closers) to ensure that doors are kept closed. An open fire door is completely ineffective and redundant if you think about it. In any event your husband's theory proposes a complete reliance on an electronic detector that could fail and in this scenario, having left the doors open, you've probably blown any chance of a safe escape in the event of fire.

Tell your husband that disabling a safety device (leaving the door open) is so pointless it defies belief. You may as well not have the door there in the first place then.

Stick a smoke alarm/detector behind the door (and rig up a bell in the hall if needs be) to catch the smoke behind the door. Don't leave the door open . . . defeats the purpose.

z

What is the legal requirement for fire-resistance of internal doors in new builds ?

How can hollow-core doors be allowed ? I swear, a hair-dryer pointed at some of them would make them go up in flames !!

there is no requirement for fire doors in standard single or two storey dwellings...
however in 3 storeys or more, (generally 2 storey with attic converted) it is required to have all doors onto the protected stairwell to be 30 min fire doors, these doors need to have self closing mechanisms.

to zag... i dont think the OP stated that there are fire doors in her house....

to pudzer, keep the doors closed, opening them leads to a quicker spread of flame.... every material has a fire resistance..... if your doors are solid wood they probably have afire resistance of 20-30 mins.. therefore if the fire has to pass two doors eg kitchen and bedroom, then you have theoretically 40 - 60 mins extra. But this is no comparision to having a good working fire detection and alarm system.

DEFINITELY closed.
there is even a chance with closed doors that a fire in one room can run out of oxygen and burn itself out without spreading, open doors will just keep feeding it.

Pique318 said:

What is the legal requirement for fire-resistance of internal doors in new builds ?

How can hollow-core doors be allowed ? I swear, a hair-dryer pointed at some of them would make them go up in flames !!

Click to expand...

Single family homes (detached, semi-d or terraced) are generally not required to have fire doors fitted, except in some exceptional circumstances (e.g. 3 storey buildings, loft conversions etc). The requirements for apartments/ flats, maisonettes and multi occupancy buildings are more complex and these are set down in Irish Building Regulations Part B and British Standard 5588: Part 1. Even where doors in a standard family dwelling are not rated fire doors I think it is still best practice to close these doors at bedtime to prevent escape routes becoming smoke logged in the event of fire.

does having glass in internal doors seriously reduce their effectiveness at containing smoke?

not for smoke, but maybe for fire..... depends on the glazing type, thickness, and any laminates...