From the experience of Novoferm Schievano on fire doors, new glass doors suitable for every need in terms of security, both in terms of aesthetics, with particular attention to low-light environments.
Classification fire doors: REI or EI?
A fire door need to achieve two key features:
Self-closing: the door should close by itself through devices like spring hinges, door closers or the counterweight in case of sliding gates.
Fire resistance of a closing element is expressed with an interval in minutes, during which the door retains its sealing properties and/or insulation.
There are different regulations to determine the rating of fire doors:
European standard EN 16034
National regulations, for Italy it’s UNI 9723
European and Italian regulations are very similar: they give a similar classification that can be summarized here ("EI" for the EN 16034, "REI" for the UNI 9723):
Resistance: the load-bearing capacity of an element, to be maintained in case of fire (not applicable for fire doors, in fact removed in European Norm).
Hermetic: that is, the ability to hold the fire. Does not mean that the door is “sealed”, as suggested by the common sense of the term.
Thermal Insulation: that is, the ability to reduce the transmission of heat towards the face not exposed to fire.
A test in compliance with UNI 9723 generates a REIxx classification that will be approved by the Ministry as REIxx.
A test according to EN 1634 generates a classification EI2xx that will be approved by the Ministry as REIxx.
Therefore, fundamentally different products in terms of generation (standards EN significantly more recent) may be difficult to distinguish (same Ministry classification).
