Fire Doors: Fire Resistance, Self-Closing and Inspection (BYKHY Article 47)

A fire door is a door, hatch or shutter that, when kept closed, resists the passage of smoke, heat and flame for a certain period (Turkish Regulation on Fire Protection of Buildings (BYKHY), Article 4(şş)). The decisive phrase in the definition is "when kept closed". A door that has been left open falls outside the definition regardless of the label on it, and renders the fire resistance of the wall behind it ineffective.

The Regulation does not collect the subject of doors in a single article: dimensions and hardware are in Article 47, the stair and lobby separation in Article 38 and Article 34, the opening rule in Article 25(2), the release of door hold-open devices in a fire in Article 82(1)(a), and escape doors in existing buildings in Article 157. The smoke-tight door details in Article 50(6), on the other hand, are not a general rule; they belong to the smoke barriers in the non-ventilated internal corridors of hotels, motels and dormitories.

Dimensions and basic hardware: Article 47

The minimum clear width of escape route doors cannot be less than 80 cm and their height not less than 200 cm; escape route doors must have no threshold; revolving doors and turnstiles cannot be used as exit doors (BYKHY Article 47(1)).

The opening direction of the door is linked to the number of occupants: exit doors in spaces with an occupant load exceeding 50 people must open in the direction of escape; escape route doors must be opened by hand and must not be kept locked (BYKHY Article 47(2)).

The definition of clear width is also in the text: for a single-leaf door the dimension is between the door frame or rebate projection and the face of the leaf opened to 90 degrees, and it cannot be less than 80 cm or more than 120 cm; for a double-leaf door the dimension is between the leaf faces with both leaves open at 90 degrees (BYKHY Article 47(4)).

Fire resistance periods: chosen by the door's location

The rule in the table is this: the class of the door derives not from the door itself but from the boundary it sits in. The boiler room is the clearest example; the room is separated by elements with at least 120 minutes fire resistance (BYKHY Article 54(2)), the exit doors are at least 90 minutes fire-resisting, smoke-tight and capable of self-closing (BYKHY Article 54(5)), and the door must open not onto an escape stair but onto a common hall or corridor (BYKHY Article 54(4)). The details are covered in the article on the 120-minute boiler room.

The number of doors depends on the thermal capacity: boiler rooms with a thermal capacity between 50 kW and 350 kW have at least one door; boiler rooms with a floor area above 100 m² or a thermal capacity above 350 kW have at least 2 exit doors, and the doors are placed as far as possible in opposite directions (BYKHY Article 54(5)).

Self-closing: a hold-open device instead of a wedge

Escape stair and fire lobby doors must be fitted with self-closing devices and must allow firefighters or staff to enter from outside when necessary (BYKHY Article 47(3)). For unavoidable openings in a fire wall, the doors must also be self-closing and smoke-tight (BYKHY Article 25(2)). Self-closing is a performance characteristic defined with a separate symbol (C) in Annex 3/A (BYKHY Article 29(7)(a)).

The wish to keep doors open in operation is a real need. The Regulation answers this need not with a wedge but with a controlled solution: the emergency control system, operating automatically in a fire, must have the function of releasing the electromagnetic door holders and similar devices that normally keep open the fire doors and other opening-closing devices that must close during a fire (BYKHY Article 82(1)(a)).

Scope of Article 50(6). The most detailed rules for smoke-tight doors are in Article 50(6); however, Article 50 is the article headed "Hotels, motels and dormitories", and 50(6) is the paragraph on subdividing internal corridors that are not ventilated naturally or mechanically with smoke barriers at 45 m intervals in buildings with a sprinkler system and 30 m intervals in buildings without one. The rules below apply to smoke-tight doors in these smoke barriers; they cannot be cited directly as the basis for other uses, but they can be used as a good-practice reference:

• Smoke barriers are at least 60 minutes fire-resisting; escape doors within the barrier must be at least 60 minutes fire-resisting and smoke-tight (BYKHY Article 50(6)(a)).
• Except for glazed doors, glass panels providing a clear view with an area of at least 25% of the surface area of each leaf are fitted (BYKHY Article 50(6)(c)).
• The doors may be single or double leaf; they must be fitted with self-closing devices, the leaves must close the opening completely, the frames must be fixed tightly in the wall opening and the gap between the leaf and the floor must not exceed 4 mm (BYKHY Article 50(6)(ç)).
• The doors are normally kept closed; they may be held open if they can be closed automatically by electromagnetic or electromechanical devices operated through the detection system (BYKHY Article 50(6)(d)).

In the internal corridors of hotels and dormitories the 4 mm bottom gap limit is almost never measured on site; it is easily exceeded when the carpet or screed thickness is later changed.

Opening force and opening without using the handle

Two provisions give the same number. Doors must be designed so that they can be opened with a force of at most 110 N (BYKHY Article 47(6)). On the pressurisation side, the force that must be applied to the door handle to open the door, overcoming the force created on the door by both the pressurised air and the automatic door closer, must not exceed 110 newtons (BYKHY Article 89(7)).

This second provision is at the centre of the conflict in pressurisation design: when the system operates, the pressure difference must be at least 50 Pa with all doors closed and at least 15 Pa with a door open (BYKHY Article 89(5)). As the pressure rises, the opening force increases; both provisions must be met at the same time. How the balance is achieved is covered in the article on pressurisation thresholds.

There is also a threshold on the handle side: all escape route doors opening from the stair to a safe area at natural ground level, and, where the number of people on a floor exceeds 100, escape stair, escape corridor and fire lobby doors, are arranged so that they can be opened in the direction of escape without using the door handle (BYKHY Article 47(5)).

For existing buildings the same threshold is repeated, this time naming the hardware: all escape route doors opening from the stair to a safe area at natural ground level, and escape stair doors where the number of occupants on a floor exceeds 100, must be openable without using the door handle, by a panic bar or a similar device; the doors are designed to open with a force of at most 110 N (BYKHY Article 157(4)). In other words, "panic bar" is the market name, and the Regulation's wording is "device with a panic lever".

Minutes or EI class

BYKHY expresses door performance in minutes (Article 47(3), Article 38(3), Article 25(2)) and defines the resistance symbols in Annex 3/A (BYKHY Article 29(7)(a)): R, E, I, W, M, C (self-closing), S (smoke leakage) and P/PH, G, K, D, DH, F and B. The text of the Regulation does not use a class notation such as EI 60 or EI 90 for escape route doors; only Annex 3/B uses the notation E 60 (buildings with a structure height above 51.50 m) and E 30 (lower buildings) for lift landing doors.

Door documents on the market will show EI classes and European standard numbers; these may be the language of the manufacturer's declaration, but what the Regulation asks for is fire resistance in minutes and smoke-tightness. The standards that the Regulation cites directly on door and material classes are limited: TS EN 13501-1 and TS EN 13501-5 for reaction-to-fire classes (Annex 2/A, Annex 2/B, Annex 2/Ç), and TS EN 81-58 together with the Annex 3/B values for lift landing doors (Article 62(7)).

The practical consequence: do not just write "EI 90" on the drawings. Write "door with at least 90 minutes fire resistance, smoke-tight, fitted with a self-closing device (BYKHY Article 47(3))", and attach the product certificate. The differences between certification schemes are covered in the article on TSE, CE, UL, FM, LPCB and VdS approval schemes.

Maintenance, inspection and operation

The building or workplace owners and managers are responsible for keeping escape stairs clear and fit for use (BYKHY Article 38(4)). A door cannot be kept locked (BYKHY Article 47(2)); this is the most frequent non-conformity found in operational inspections.

A door check covers the closing movement and the self-closing device (Article 47(3)), openability in the direction of escape without a lock and without using the handle (Article 47(2), 47(5)), an opening force not exceeding 110 N (Article 47(6)), and, for doors with hold-open devices, release of the holder in a fire (Article 82(1)(a)). For smoke barrier doors in the non-ventilated internal corridors of hotels, motels and dormitories, the 4 mm limit between leaf and floor (Article 50(6)(ç)) and the detection-linked hold-open requirement (Article 50(6)(d)) are also checked.

These checks should be put on a schedule and recorded; the arrangement is covered system by system in the inspection, testing and maintenance guide. The chain of operational responsibility is explained in the article on fire safety management, and the place of doors in the escape chain in the article on escape routes and fire escape stairs.

Field note

On a hospital floor all the fire doors had the correct fire resistance class and had been installed properly. During the inspection five of the six doors were found open; all of them had been wedged for stretcher passage. The staff did not think they were doing anything wrong, because it was not possible to open the door while pushing a stretcher alone.

The solution was not to replace the door. Healthcare buildings fall under Article 49; since Article 50(6) belongs to hotels, motels and dormitories, it cannot be the basis here. The basis was Article 82(1)(a), which defines the release by the emergency control system, in a fire, of the electromagnetic door holders that normally keep fire doors open. Hold-open devices connected to the fire detection system were fitted to the doors; the doors stayed open all day and closed on alarm.

The lesson: if a measure prevents the operator from doing its job, sooner or later it will be disabled. The Regulation recognises this reality and permits controlled holding open; good engineering means building the solution that makes the violation unnecessary.

Checklist

• Has the fire resistance period of each door been chosen according to the boundary it sits in (Article 47(3), 38(3), 34(2), 25(2), 54(5))?
• Is the clear width at least 80 cm and the height at least 200 cm; is a single leaf within 80-120 cm (Article 47(1), 47(4))?
• In spaces with an occupant load exceeding 50 people, does the door open in the direction of escape (Article 47(2))?
• If the number of people on a floor exceeds 100, can the door be opened without using the handle (Article 47(5), 157(4))?
• Has the opening force been measured, and is it below 110 N (Article 47(6), 89(7))? On a pressurised stair, has it been verified together with 50 Pa and 15 Pa (Article 89(5))?
• For the smoke barrier door in a non-ventilated internal corridor of a hotel, motel or dormitory: does the gap between leaf and floor exceed 4 mm (Article 50(6)(ç))? Is the glass panel area at least 25% of the leaf surface (Article 50(6)(c))?
• Do doors that are kept open permanently have a hold-open device, and is it released by the emergency control system in a fire (Article 82(1)(a); for hotel/dormitory smoke barrier doors Article 50(6)(d))?
• In an existing building, does the fire resistance of the escape stair door suit the structure height (Article 157(1))?
• Does the boiler room door open onto a common hall or corridor (Article 54(4))? Does the number of doors suit the thermal capacity (Article 54(5))?
• Are the escape stairs and the areas in front of them clear and unlocked (Article 38(4), Article 47(2))?

FAQ

How is a fire door defined in BYKHY?

A fire door is a door, hatch or shutter in a building that allows circulation for occupants, air or objects and, when kept closed, resists the passage of smoke, heat and flame for a certain period (BYKHY Article 4(şş)). The decisive phrase in the definition is "when kept closed"; a door left open falls outside the definition.

How many minutes of fire resistance must an escape stair door have?

Escape stair and fire lobby doors must be smoke-tight and have at least 60 minutes fire resistance if they serve fewer than 4 floors, and at least 90 minutes if they serve basement floors or more than 4 floors (BYKHY Article 47(3)). Escape stairs are separated from other parts by walls with at least 120 minutes fire resistance and smoke-tight doors with at least 90 minutes (BYKHY Article 38(3)).

Can a fire door be left open?

Escape stair and fire lobby doors must be fitted with self-closing devices (BYKHY Article 47(3)). The emergency control system, operating automatically in a fire, must have the function of releasing the electromagnetic door holders and similar devices that normally keep fire doors open (BYKHY Article 82(1)(a)). For smoke barrier doors in the non-ventilated internal corridors of hotels, motels and dormitories, Article 50(6)(d) states this explicitly: these doors are normally kept closed, and may be held open if they can be closed automatically by electromagnetic or electromechanical devices linked to the detection system. In other words, the solution is not a wedge but a detection-linked hold-open device.

With how much force must an escape door open?

Doors must be designed so that they can be opened with a force of at most 110 N (BYKHY Article 47(6)). On pressurised stairs too, the force that must be applied to the door handle to open the door, overcoming the force created on the door by both the pressurised air and the automatic door closer, must not exceed 110 newtons (BYKHY Article 89(7)).

References

1. Turkish Regulation on Fire Protection of Buildings (BYKHY), Official Gazette 19.12.2007/26735 and amendments; Articles 4(şş) (fire door definition), 25(2) and 25(3) (openings in fire walls, shaft access doors), 29(7)(a) with Annex 3/A (resistance symbols), 34(2) (fire lobby), 38(3) and 38(4) (escape stair separation and keeping clear), 47(1)-47(6) (escape route doors), 49 (healthcare buildings), 50(6)(a), (c), (ç), (d) (smoke barriers and smoke-tight doors in non-ventilated internal corridors of hotels, motels and dormitories), 54(2), 54(4), 54(5) (boiler room doors), 82(1)(a) (release of door holders by the emergency control system), 89(5) and 89(7) (pressure difference and opening force), 157(1) (fire resistance of escape stair doors in existing buildings), 157(4) (panic hardware and 110 N in existing buildings), Annex 3/B (fire resistance periods, including lift landing doors). mevzuat.gov.tr (consolidated text)
2. Standards cited by the Regulation for door and material classes: TS EN 13501-1 and TS EN 13501-5 (reaction-to-fire classes of building materials, Annex 2/A, Annex 2/B, Annex 2/Ç), TS EN 81-58 (lift landing doors, Article 62(7)).

SprinkCalc — Fire Sprinkler Design Across Three Standards

SprinkCalc covers hazard classification, design density and area, K-factor selection, water demand and hydraulic calculations for NFPA 13, FM Global and BS EN 12845 in a single iOS app, and exports a professional PDF report.

Download SprinkCalc on the App Store

MEP Calc — 110+ Engineering Calculators

MEP Calc bundles 110+ engineering modules in one iOS app: 21 fire calculations plus heating, cooling, HVAC, plumbing, steam and natural gas.

Download MEP Calc on the App Store