Locks have changed over the centuries, but the struggle to optimize the balance between security, cost and convenience is a constant. From the days when the Maharajahs of India kept their treasure on islands surrounded by crocodile infested moats (access was only possible by killing or drugging the crocodiles) to the present age of electronics.

We know that wooden locks were in use four thousand years ago, the oldest found to date is from a palace in Nineveh (now Mosul, Iraq). Keys of this era were so large that a slave was required to carry one – not much more convenient than the crocs.

The Romans combined Egyptian, Greek, and Chinese improvements and made metal locks widely available. Because Roman togas had no pockets keys small enough to be incorporated into finger rings were developed.

Development of locks in the Middle Ages was mostly confined to cosmetics. Locksmithing was ruled by Guilds which often combined the worst features of cartels and unions preventing new technology from emerging, what inventiveness there was was directed to trickery, false keyholes and hiding the real lock to foil thieves.

At this time combination locks were known and used but could easily be defeated by “feel.”

In 1778 Robert Barron of England invented the lever tumbler lock, this provided real pick prevention for the first time and ushered in an age of invention.

In 1784, Joseph Bramah displayed in his London shop a lock with a sign offering 200 guineas (£210) to anyone who could pick it, it was not until 1851 that the prize was awarded, and then after 51 hours of effort.

Linus Yale jr., obviously a modest man, developed his “Infallible bank lock” in 1851, this was the standard for safes, but was soon made obsolete by the technique of pouring explosives into the keyhole. Precision combination locks replaced these, Yale’s “Magic bank lock” came out in 1861.

1873, James Sargent, of Rochester, NY invented a time lock mechanism, to open the safe it was necessary to know the combination, and also the time window when opening the lock was possible.

Now is a period of rapid technological advance similar to the late 18th century, our revolution however, is in electronics rather than mechanisms.

Changes in Value

In the nineteenth century it was gold and diamonds that required the ultimate protection; today’s gold is data, today’s diamonds are civilian lives. Electronic firewalls have taken the place of fire-proof safes. Hard disks have replace bullion.

Information, such as medical records which, 25 years ago, were treated as worth little more than the paper they were written on, are now of enormous value and must be kept confidential. Identity thieves make their livings by stealing codes, passwords etc. to access bank accounts and credit. If on-line retailers cannot guarantee security they will lose their customers.

In the “West,” as life has become easier, the value we place on human life has increased, epitomized by our grief over losing 5 aircraft in a whole war; compared with just 60 years ago when the loss of 5 planes (40+ men) in a single 100 bomber raid would not have made the front page. With this increasing (perceived) value has come an increased tolerance of the extra cost and inconvenience in airports.

Keys

Many times just the appearance of a lock is enough to deter the casual thief. In other cases it is important that the door is actually locked. Occasionally it is important that the door is seen to be locked. To achieve this the lock can be designed to retain the key when unlocked, or the key can be used to free the handle which then springs out to an obviously “open” position.

99% of all locks are operated by conventional keys. So obviously they work very well and are cost effective in most applications. Key locks do have limitations as can be seen in the adjoining table 1.

Very high security keys are available which are very difficult to copy with replacements available only from the manufacturer. This is a significant cost in terms of record keeping and inconvenience as well as Dollars. The complexity of the key is no defense against theft.

All other keys are relatively easy to copy (even when stamped “Do Not Copy”).

The picture of the prison guard with a huge ring of keys may be anachronistic, certainly it highlights the inconvenience, but it has virtues, something that big and heavy is unlikely to be lost and its theft is immediately obvious. In most collocation centers and data centers a master key system is used to improve convenience by allowing one key to open all doors in the system with subordinate keys authorized for just one, or one set of doors. This eliminates the need for say a maintenance man to carry large number of keys. As always there is a trade-off: the master is very valuable.

A recent development is a handle operated by a combination with a key override; this operates like a mastered system, but locks can be fairly easily “re-set” in minutes, as say, tenants in a collocation center, or employees come and go.

It is not normally necessary to use a large number of different key patterns if any surveillance is used; someone trying 25 locks before one opens will not succeed.

Any system that requires keys has problems when a key goes missing, the first difficulty is for the responsible person to become aware of the loss. A decision must then be made as to the likelihood of the key falling into nefarious hands and from that the decision to re-key some, or all, locks is dictated. The expense and time wasted doing this, particularly if it is a master key that goes astray, suggests that it will not always be done. The property at risk if a key is compromised often does not belong to the holder of a master key, this presents a conflict of interests and is a good argument for lessees to demand a system that can be “re-keyed” easily and inexpensively.

A worse problem is when a key is copied, then only the person (perhaps an employee about to be terminated) who does the copying may know of this security breach. Again if “re-keying” is easy it can be done every time an employee leaves.

As the need for master systems has increased and the cost of electronic systems has declined more and more companies and other organizations are considering the “electronic alternative.”

Electronic Handles on Server Cabinets

With the increasing value of information much security attention has focused on computer security, both from electronic and physical entry. An electronic server cabinet security system such as EMKA’s modular system can be configured in several different ways in order to combine security and convenience in the most appropriate combination.

A typical Bank Data Center or Collocation Center will have, perhaps, 250 server cabinets each with one, two or three doors front and rear. The enclosures are set in banks in a secure room. The room is typically accessed by an ID badge / proximity card. Several of the servers will be leased out to various tenants, they and their maintenance people need access from time to time. The management of the building also need access and the ability to lock out the lessee.

With a good electronic system all the shortcomings of keyed locks can be overcome and additional functions added.

We are all familiar with the “swipe cards” in use at virtually all hotels. Similar systems can be used to secure the data in server enclosures.

How To Evaluate An Electronic System

1) Security

a. Can codes be changed easily?

b. Can permissions be set through a LAN or is a separate means necessary?

c. Are different permission levels available?

d. Is an “event log” automatically written?

e. Can doors be alarmed?

f. Will a door open in the event of a power failure?

2) Keypad operation -

a. How many possible codes are there? 4, 5, or 6 digit codes provide over 1 million possibilities.

b. Can one keypad operate several doors?

c. Can the lock accept several different codes so that a master system can be set up?

d. Can codes be authorized and invalidated remotely?

If a key pad is used in a room secured by a proximity ID card, then the card would need to be stolen and the ACN deduced, a tall order; similar to the lock with a hidden key hole, and the time lock invention: opening requires both knowledge and a “key.”

3) Proximity cards

a. Can the system be set up so that a proximity card is used in conjunction with a key pad? so the door number is keyed in then the card presented to open the door. This will significantly reduce the overall cost.

b. Can existing building security prox. cards be used?

Electronic “keys” (proximity cards) have an almost infinite number (4.3 billion) of combinations and cannot be copied. These cards can be lost or stolen, but as soon as loss is discovered they can be invalidated.

4) How can temporary authorization be given?

a. Expiring Prox card?

b. Easily revoked code?

c. Cell phone?

d. Remote opening from a LAN terminal?

5) Event log

a. Is this written to a windows file?

b. Does this record code used, time, date, and event?

This provides excellent deterrence by increasing the probability of discovery.

6) Door monitoring

a. Is door locked/unlocked status displayed in real time?

b. Is the door open/closed status displayed?

c. Can any or all doors be alarmed?

d. Is it visually obvious that a door is unlocked?

e. Can this alarm send a cell phone message?

f. Can the alarm be “latched”?

7) Other monitoring

a. Can temperature and humidity be monitored on the same system as the locks?

b. Can the system automatically control as well as monitor fans, heaters, etc.?

c. Are limits easily set?

d. Can other inputs such as vibration magnitude be monitored? (to detect imminent disk failure)

e. Can any of these send an alarm signal?

Software

a. Is this windows based?

b. Is specialist knowledge required to set up or operate?

c. Can it be integrated into an existing building security system?

d. Does it provide diagnostics?

e. Does it allow remote opening of doors?

9) Network

a. Can this be easily integrated into the building security system?

b. Can it use the same proximity cards, or combination of cards and ACNs that the rest of the building uses?

c. Is a standard, open network protocol used?

d. Is it reliable?

CAN bus is the ideal, it was developed for automotive systems; it has been estimated that if every car had brakes controlled by a CAN bus system there would be one error every 11,000 years.

10) Other features

a. Can a cell phone be used to open a door?

b. Is the system capable of operating the required number of cabinets? The fewer the networks the better.

c. Is the system modular, easily expandable?

d. Is the system easily serviceable?

Built-in diagnostics with easily replaceable modules are ideal.

The above were the criteria used in the development of the EMKA ELM system after extensive consultation with enclosure manufacturers, collocation center managers, and users of these centers.

MISCELLANEOUS

Because the locks are electrically operated is it easy to wire contacts into the circuit to give an interlock effect.

In a reprise of the hidden key hole EMKA does offer a system with both latches and hinges totally concealed.

For more information, contact: EMKA Incorporated, Tel: 717.986.1111 • info@emkausa.com

http://www.emkausa.com/e

©Copyright 1997- Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

As part of a comprehensive disaster protection and recovery initiative, Arthur Blank & Co., the largest provider of private label credit and gift cards in North America, recently put a “lock” on its data center with the installation of a fireproof, Class 125-rated server vault from FIRELOCK.

The new FIRELOCK-protected data center room can withstand temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit outside the walls, while keeping inside temperatures below 125 degrees Fahrenheit (Class 125 certified), ensuring the protection of sensitive servers and data housed in the facility.

“Protecting business and client data,” said Jamie Caples, director of IT for Arthur Blank & Co., “is vital to our company’s promise of delivering cards and related services with maximum uptime. Our retail and financial services clients deal with sensitive information that potentially involves billions of dollars, so they depend on us to plan for any contingency.” Protecting their primary data center with a Class 125 fireproof vault is a critical element of Arthur Blank & Co.’s disaster recovery plan.

The FIRELOCK Server Vault is comprised of several components. The walls and roof are constructed with a modular panel system using a core of ceramic fiber insulation, the same material used in steel foundries and for other high temperature industrial applications. A double door assembly, to meet the stringent Class 125 rating, is equipped with automatic closers that are activated by heat, smoke, flammable gas or a power failure.

Insulated cable penetrations, similar to those used in nuclear power plants, allow the myriad of data and power cables to be brought in without compromising the fireproof chamber. The coolant lines for the Liebert HVAC system are also protected by these insulated conduit penetrations. The entry points for the air ducts in the HVAC system are three-stage damper assemblies, which are protected by a housing also insulated with ceramic fiber.

According to Caples, “We realized standard room construction methods would allow heat and smoke to damage our data center even before flames penetrated the structure, which is why we sought out a data-rated vault solution for our facility. When we realized that the use of these pre-constructed fire-proof walls were comparable in cost to traditional dry wall construction the decision was easy.”

In addition to the fire protection capabilities of FIRELOCK Server Vaults, the integrated Unimount ceiling grid makes it fast and efficient to install overhead wire management systems. FIRELOCK’s installation crew welds Unistrut directly to the roof panels of the vault so cable runs can be configured to match the server rack layout. There is also a great deal of flexibility in where the HVAC system and ducts can be located to optimize climate control and airflow.

FIRELOCK vaults have traditionally been used to protect magnetic media, microfilm and other temperature-sensitive information assets. As data storage technologies have evolved, FIRELOCK has seen an increasing demand for vaults to protect data centers. The modular design allows these vaults to be built to the exact size and configuration requirements for retrofitting existing data centers or constructing new facilities. The lightweight panel system even allows vaults to be located on upper floors. For above-grade locations FIRELOCK installs an insulated floor system to protect against potential heat sources below the vault. The modular design also means vaults can be expanded or relocated if needed. The inherent design flexibility of FIRELOCK’s Server Vaults ensures their viability as data centers continue to evolve.

About FIRELOCK®

FIRELOCK provides custom design expertise and manufactures and installs modular record storage vaults in a variety of sizes, from small rooms up to 25,000 cu. ft. These vaults are designed to provide UL Class 125 fire protection, along with environmental controls for your critical or vital information assets. Lightweight, expandable panel systems are available to construct fire-safe and heat-safe vaults for the protection of IT infrastructure, magnetic media, micrographic media, and optical disks. The FIRELOCK vault is the highest rated fire protection storage environment for heat-sensitive processing equipment and computer media available in the industry. Our client list includes service organizations of all types and sizes from diverse industries, ranging from hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, to major financial houses and State and Local Government offices. Information on FIRELOCK’s server vault application is available at http://www.servervaults.com, or contact us at 610-756-6040.

About Arthur Blank & Co., Inc.® a division of American Banknote

Founded in 1934, Arthur Blank & Co. is a leading North American producer of private-label plastic cards. Located in Boston, Massachusetts, and Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee Arthur Blank has the capacity to print up to 1.5 billion cards per year. Arthur Blank’s cards are currently being utilized as secure cards (including MasterCard & Visa), bank cards; healthcare and insurance cards; private label credit cards; ID, security and access cards; membership and gift cards; and gaming and hotel key cards. For more information on all of Arthur Blank’s card products, visit http://www.arthurblank.com or call 617-325-9600.

©Copyright 1997- Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

What exactly is the difference between a regular door and a fire door assembly?

A fire door assembly is specifically used to stop the spread of fire, thereby compartmentalizing different areas of your facility in order to protect the building occupants.

Fire doors play a critical role in life safety and must be maintained according to strict guidelines to ensure they continue to perform as designed and intended.

In 2007, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) published a new edition of their standard, NFPA 80, Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives. This new edition requires (for the first time) that fire door assemblies be annually tested for a number of critical factors.

Suffice it to say, many lives have been lost in fires, where the loss of life was directly attributable to either malfunctioning assemblies or fire door assemblies that were not properly maintained.

Because of the loss of life and the new code changes, property owners are now being tasked to ensure their fire door assemblies meet compliance standards.

Traditionally, the fire department would send out an inspector to review your commercial property and do a walk through inspection. Even though some departments may continue to perform this public service, there are many departments where the code enforcement official, or fire marshal, is simply to overwhelmed to visit your facility annually. They may have a history of coming by unannounced once a year, or every few years, depending upon their staffing and time available for such inspections.

Because building owners are ultimately responsible for their properties, and because the requirement for annual fire door assembly inspections was not code till recently, many property owners simply ignored the need for continued maintenance of fire doors.

Since most jurisdictions have either adopted the new requirements, or will soon adopt the new code requirements, property owners are required to provide evidence of an annual inspection of their listed fire door openings. They may not have specifically adopted NFPA 80, but most jurisdictions use the International Building Code, the International Fire Code, or at the very least the NFPA 1 Fire Code. All of these other codes reference the NFPA 80 Standard in their bodies.

The IFDIA was formed specifically to provide on-time information to property owners about changing codes and to provide a venue where building and property owners could search for credible fire door inspectors.

We are very protective of your personal information and because of this concern for your privacy, we have designed our portal to allow for you to find a credible fire door inspector member of the IFDIA with ease and anonymity.

How does it benefit property owners to use our site?

Our site has the largest concentration of credible fire door inspectors available. We also provide free membership to all of our members. This includes the fire door inspectors (this means they all have equal footing on our site), to building and property owners and to code officials and fire personnel.

We provide our site services free of charge so that there will never be a question of a conflict of interest. We want to make sure that you, as a property owner, do not have to pay a fee just to find a reliable, credible and highly trained fire door inspector.

Since all of our members are vetted, you will also be assured that any fire door inspector you find on our site will meet minimum requirements of training and professionalism. Now, we cannot speak for the actual work performed by any particular fire door inspector, as each company and each contractor may have differing levels of attitude when it comes to service, making and keeping appointments and generally running their business. However, we can assure building and property owners that all of our members must adhere to a very strict code of ethics. Any member who deviates from the agreed upon ethical code of the IFDIA will immediately lose their membership status and their contact information will be deleted, along with their profile.

Now, from the above, you can see that all of our members must meet our ethical and educational requirements. What other benefits can your free membership in the IFDIA bring to you?

Well…how often do you wish you could get quotes from contractors in a fast and efficient manner? With our free online member site, you will be able to send out multiple requests for quote (RFQ) to multiple vetted fire door assembly inspectors. Your privacy is maintained in the quote request, with only the city and zip code of your project being sent to the fire door inspector. This is to insure the inspector actually provides service to your geographic location.

You can send out multiple quote requests and when you get your replies, you can pick and choose the one that sounds like it will best suit your needs. Both for cost, and any other factors you may have determined to be paramount.

Any quote you don’t accept simply stays in your profile until such time as you delete it.

The requests you sent out to other fire door inspectors simply disappear into cyberspace and the inspector whose quote you did not accept moves on to other quote for other projects.

Receiving replies to your RFQ couldn’t be simpler. You will receive an email with a hyperlink embedded into the message body telling you that a fire door inspector has replied to your quote request. You simply click on the hyperlink and after you login to your secure profile page, you can view and compare any quotes you have received. If you choose to accept the quote, you simply click on the “accept” button. If you don’t like the quote, you can either contact the fire door inspector by releasing your personal information to them (via email) or you can simply click the “decline” button and the fire door inspector will be sent an email stating that the quote was declined.

Once you decline the quote, the fire door inspector cannot re-submit to you and you go about your merry way with the fire door inspector contract company you have chosen.

The fire door inspector will then open up a fire door inspection form in his profile and save it. He / she will then contact you to set up a time to come out to your facility and perform a physical inspection of any doors and frames YOU designate as being fire listed assemblies.

Fire door inspectors are not responsible for deciding which of your openings are actually used as fire protected assemblies, since such determinations are usually called out by either an architect or planning official.

When your inspection is completed, the fire door inspector will electronically file his report on our patent pending report site (the same site where your free profile will reside) and you will automatically receive another email telling you that your report has been submitted. You can then click on the hyperlink, login to your account and view the report.

So, not only is our site free, but we also are an excellent resource for you to save money and time.

You get competitive quotes from credible contracted fire door inspectors.

You maintain your privacy and never have to worry about people pestering you with phone calls or dogging you about their quote.

You do not have to have paperwork that needs to be stored and made ready for the fire marshal or code enforcement authority to view upon demand (they will see your report electronically too).

You do not have to place phone calls, meet with inspectors, ask for quotes to be faxed, try to determine credibility, try to understand a report format or spend your valuable time organizing minutia.

Go to our main site and register for your free membership today. Our members will save you time and money and the IFDIA will always be there to answer any questions you may have.

owners can register for free and search by city, state or zip code for a credible fire door inspector. They can submit to multiple fire door inspectors for quotes (thereby obtaining competitive bids) and choose a fire door inspector who suits their needs.

As an AHJ, we at the IFDIA know you must maintain a conflict free, arms length relationship with any contractor. Your professional ethics prohibit you from recommending any particular contractor. We understand your position completely and agree with this ethical view.

Now, not only can you direct the constituents in your jurisdiction to a site where they can make choices regarding whom they wish to hire, but you can also be assured that our members are also a diverse compilation of credible professionals. Since the IFDIA allows registration of membership by graduates of a number of approved courses, we are, in fact, an open association and not limited to fire door inspectors who have been trained by our association.

Currently, we recognize DHI, FDAI graduates and IFDIA Advanced Swinging Type Fire Door Inspectors for membership and are continually testing the knowledge base of any other association or group to see if their graduates meet our high standards.

Now that you, as an AHJ, understand a little bit about our members, what specific benefit does the IFDIA bring to your department?

We also allow free membership to qualified Authorities Having Jurisdiction. This means you, or someone in your department can register on our site for free, create a profile and review reports.

How did the IFDIA design the site for report review by the AHJ?

We built a very powerful, custom networking and report writing site (so different from what is out there, that we have a patent pending on our method) where you can not only review reports for compliance, but also add your comments, approve a particular report, call for re-inspection, ask for more details, or, simply not approve any opening in the report.

You, as the AHJ have total and absolute control over whether or not a particular door, or complete report, meets your safety standards.

How do your reports come to the AHJ?

The IFDIA is completely web based. When you register, you would put in a specific email address where you want to be notified of any reports that are filed in your jurisdiction. Imagine, you open your email client and see an email list that says “Submitted Fire Door Inspection Report” and when you click on the hyperlink in the body of the report, you will, after login, be immediately taken to the report page on your profile. How much simpler can it be?

What sort of information will the Fire Door Inspection Report contain?

Each report will include the property address, the building owner or manager contact information, the number of doors inspected, the fire door inspector’s profile information, any issues apparent to the fire door inspector (compliant or non-compliant and specific citations for each finding) and a place for your comments.

All comments are date stamped in red ink on the report so you can see in future any added comments or actions to the report.

What do I do when I have finished reviewing the report?

As an AHJ, you can edit and save, or edit, make your determination and hit the “submit” button. When you hit submit, the report will immediately generate an email to the building owner and the fire door inspector for action. If you have approved a report where all doors are compliant, you are finished. You can then send compliance information over to your billing department for a permit to be issued.

Our web portal allows for you to receive reports in a standardized format with audit trail, accessible from any web enabled device and to approve or disapprove any opening in your jurisdiction. Our site helps you comply with paperwork reduction policies and provides a green solution to fire door inspection reports.

Your staff can easily handle the review of multiple reports daily, thereby ensuring a more rapid adoption of safer buildings in your jurisdiction. Additionally, any permit fees will more than pay for a dedicated staff person to manage all of the reports in your jurisdiction on an ongoing basis.

In reality, the field of contracted fire door inspectors is wide open. The only real requirement regarding experience levels, knowledge and skill set are found in the National Fire Protection Association Standard number 80. Or most often called, NFPA80, Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives. The 2007 edition was the first time a requirement was made mandatory for any jurisdiction that adopted the standard to implement annual inspections of fire doors.

So, what exactly is the word according to the NFPA 80 Standard? Let’s take a look:

NFPA 80 5.2.3.1 states:

Functional testing of fire door and window assemblies shall be performed by individuals with knowledge and understanding of the operating components of the type of door being subject to testing.

This means that if you want to be an inspector, you just have to have knowledge and understanding of the stuff you are going to inspect.

Here’s a great article written in the NFPA Journal, the print and online official publication of the National Fire Protection association.  I have copied a small snippet of the text below for you, so you can read it from the horse’s mouth (sorry, mixing my metaphors).

Although no special licensing or certification is required, the door inspector must be familiar with the door components and how they operate, as noted …

Don’t be fooled into thinking you need to be certified, that a fire door inspection report needs to be generated by a “certified” fire door inspector.

Alright, now that we have the question of certification out of the way, let’s talk about whether or not you can become a fire door inspector.

At the IFDIA, we have developed an online training curriculum (did I mention it is accredited by the International Accreditation Services, whose parent company writes the International Fire and Building Codes?).

Since our online class is an Advanced Swinging Type Fire Door Assembly course, we require students to have the basic knowledge needed to pass a fairly stringent pre-qualification quiz. The quiz tests your knowledge of basic construction and code issues. Did I mention the quiz is free? Yep, free. If you pass the quiz, you can take the advanced accredited curriculum. Want to try it?

Essentially, what we do is determine if your knowledge level is sufficient to indicate you have some sort of experience in the construction and door hardware industry. If you do, great! If not, we have a primer course you can take for very little money to get you up to speed.

So, rather than try to restrict this brand new, exciting home based business to special people who call themselves “certified” we want to make sure that anyone who is capable and has the skill set to advance, can take our course and be assured of the most up-to-date training available.

Now, you might be thinking….(I do this a lot too), ‘if I don’t need to be certified and I just have to be knowledgeable, why should I take the IFDIA course?’ . Hey, we get it. We understand you may know more about fire doors than most people, but…does the Authority Having Jurisdiction, or Code Official know what you know? Do you know them personally? If you do, that’s great. You have nothing to worry about. But, what if you don’t know the AHJ and he / she does not know you? How will they determine whether or not your skill set is equivalent to the amorphous NFPA 80 requirement for “knowledge” needed?

That’s where the IFDIA can help. With an accredited curriculum, we are assuring the local Authority Having Jurisdiction (Fire Marshal, Code Enforcement, Building or Planning Dept etc.) that our students and members are trained with not only the basic knowledge needed, but also to an accredited curriculum. Now, the AHJ does  not have to accept any inspector, or any report written by any particular inspector, but, since our accreditation is by IAS, they will most likely understand your training is top notch. After all, most cities, states, institutions etc., are accredited by the same agency. And as the child company of the International Code Council, IAS is the perfect entity to provide oversight for what we teach.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them on this page and we will be very happy to respond.

This blog is for general questions. Once you register on our site, you will be able to see specific information geared towards your specific membership class in our password protected forums. This means, if you are an AHJ, you will see specific information for you and your compatriots. If you are a building/property owner, you will be able to ask private questions and just generally be able to talk about the fire door inspectors behind their back. Kidding.

You could, but you could also just find out necessary information. If you are a fire door inspector, you can discuss new tools, new methods of inspection, what insurance company to  use etc.  So, this blog can be used for some of these issues, but membership allows for private forums too. Just an FYI.

Here’s the deal. In 2007, the National Fire Protection Association published a new edition of their Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives. This Standard is called NFPA 80.  Essentially, this standard calls for annual inspection of fire listed doors.

Now, before you freak out and think that the door from your house to your garage will need to be inspected (these are all typically fire doors), you should be aware that this standard and requirement is mostly geared towards commercial, institutional and industrial doors.

Why did the Standard change?

The NFPA published this new edition of NFPA 80 with the requirement for annual fire door inspections due to recent fires where loss of life was very heavy (and preventable) because of fire doors not working properly.

So, what can we, at the IFDIA do for you?

Well, if you own a commercial property, or are a manager of a commercial property, you need to have your fire doors inspected. No kidding. It’s true. The fire marshal may come out to inspect, but frankly, they are very busy and even though they may have made the requirement part of their local code (most of them have adopted this requirement), they don’t have enough people, or time, to send out a code enforcement person every year, to every building in their jurisdiction.

Just because they can’t make it out to your place though, does not relieve you of responsibility. Really, the responsibility is yours anyway. Just as you are responsible for having your sprinkler systems tested, your extinguisers maintained and other on-going maintenance performed, you are required to make sure your buildings are safe for occupancy. This means, the responsibility for fire door maintenance and inspections belongs to you.

Now, as to what our Association can do for you. Once you register (we know, registration is a pain and most of us don’t like registering for anything if we can help it), you will be able to ask contractors (credible fire door inspectors) for quotes. This means you can choose the best vendor, for the least amount of money (or the most expensive for that matter, if you just happen to like them) to inspect your doors.

As a matter of fact, this is one of the reasons you need to register. You will receive quotes via email hyperlink. And because we value your privacy, your quote request will not show anything personal, except your zip code and city. This way, the fire door inspector can determine if he wants to accept your request and provide you with a quote. For instance, he may not want to travel to your city, if it is too far away.

Hey, that’s pretty simple. Your information is private, you can get the best price and you know that your contractor will provide you with an accurate and credible report. That’s another reason you need to register. You will receive an email to view your report online.

The Fire Marshal or Code Enforcement Official will also be able to view your fire door inspection online. This will save everyone time, and money. He can look at your report and save changes right on our website. He can approve your doors for safety based upon the report written by your contracted fire door inspector. He can also say that your doors need some work and will need to be fixed. In this case, you would need to have them fixed and re-inspected.

Anyway, if you are property owner or manager, our association members can make your life easier. No proprietary software, no need for recording devices, no need to shop around by using the phone book. Fast, efficient quotes from highly trained inspectors.

If you are a code enforcement official, you can send property owners in your jurisdiction to our site, or this blog. We would be happy to help. What’s really neat about what we are doing is this…you can be at your desk, reviewing reports and make the final determination as to what is compliant and acceptable.  These reports will be written by our members (all of them with huge amounts of training) and are very easy to keep track of on our site. If you normally charge a permit fee for annual elevator, fire sprinkler (riser) tests etc., you could also charge a nominal permit fee for administration and report review.

If you are a fire door inspector, you already know what we do, based upon the above. Most fire door inspectors who are members of our association, took our online accredited curriculum. If you took the DHI course, we consider your training to be on par with what we offer, so you are welcome to join.

PS…here’s something we won’t do. The Association staff will not inspect your doors. We leave that to our vetted fire door inspector members. Unlike a recently formed association that is basically a selling page designed by the author and simply called an “Association”. 

Let us know if you have any questions. We would be happy to help.