Fire ratings represent the period of time a door is furnace tested to and anticipated to perform in the event of a fire.
Manufacturers of fire-rated doors have a legal requirement to demonstrate the ability of doors to resist the passage and spread of fire.
Fire Door Ratings are Defined as;
NFR Non fire rated
FD30 30 minutes fire resistance
FD60 60 minutes fire resistance
FD90 90 minutes fire resistance
FD120 120 minutes fire resistance
What is a Q-Mark Fire Door Identification Plug?
Fire doors that are manufactured under the BM TRADA Q-Mark Fire Door Manufacture scheme, a third-party certification body, feature fire door identification plug(s). The plugs are usually fitted on the centreline of the hinge edge of the door, just below the top hinge at around eye level or the frame rebate.
These plugs give specifiers and building owners a way of establishing that the door is certified.
Q-Mark fire door plugs come in two sections – the outer circle and inner tree, both of which are colour coded to indicate the status of certification. The outer circle colour of a plug signifies the period of fire resistance in minutes and the inner tree colour signifies the status of manufacture. The tree also features the member’s unique certified company number.
Plug Outer Colours: Period of Fire Resistance
Yellow Outer Circle
FD30: 30 minutes fire integrity period.
Used for either a leaf, frame or complete doorset.
Blue Outer Circle
FD60: 60 minutes fire integrity period.
Used for either a leaf, frame or complete doorset.
Brown Outer Circle
FD90: 90 minutes fire integrity period.
Used for a complete doorset only.
Black Outer Circle
FD120: 120 minutes fire integrity period.
Used for a complete doorset only.
Inner Tree Colours: Approved Elements
The inner tree must be fitted within the appropriate circular outer plug to a door leaf (leaf manufacture only) or door frame (frame manufacture only) to identify that it is a Q-Mark approved door leaf or door frame.
Silver Tree Insert
Complete doorset – Q-Mark certified for fire only.
This plug signifies that it is a complete pre-hung doorset – both the door leaf and frame must have been physically quality checked together as a matched pair in the factory.
Other Plugging Options Available Include:
Red Tree Insert
Approved door leaf and/or frame* (FD30 and FD60 only).
Intumescent strips not supplied.
The door leaf or door frame will not be in a finished state. The required intumescent strips will either not have been prepared for or be supplied at this stage.
Green Tree Insert
Approved door leaf and/or frame* (FD30 and FD60 only).
Intumescent strips prepared for and supplied.
The door leaf or door frame may not be in a finished state. It must be fully prepared for all the required intumescent strips around the perimeter gap, which can be either fitted or supplied loose but must be supplied.
Orange Tree Insert
Approved factory fitted glazing.
This plug is in addition to all other required plugs, to identify that glazing has been correctly specified and fitted to the door leaf by a Q-Mark certified fire door manufacturer.
Gold Tree Insert
Certified installation of a complete factory hung doorset.
This is in addition to all other plugs previously fitted to the doorset, and signifies that it has been installed under the supervision of a Q-Mark Approved Installer.
*Where the frame and door leaf are produced by separate Q-Mark companies, both the frame and the door leaf must have their own red/green inner tree plug.
Identifying Fire Doors
Let’s use the fire-rated door in the photo below as an example.
This doorset has an FD30 fire rating – it provides 30 minutes of fire resistance – indicated by the outer yellow circle of the Q-Mark plugs.
The top plug features a silver inner tree which indicates that this door is a factory hung doorset (a complete unit consisting of a door frame and door leaf, supplied with all essential parts from a single source).
The middle plug features an orange inner tree which indicates that the door features factory fitted glazing (a vision panel).
The bottom plug features a gold inner tree which indicates that the door has been installed by a Q-Mark Fire Door Installation scheme certified installer.
BM TRADA’s Q-Mark Fire Door Plugging Guide
This article provides a brief overview of BM TRADA Q-Mark fire door identification plugs.
To download BM TRADA’s own Q-Mark Fire Door Plugging Guide, click here.
Or for a full explanation, please visit BM TRADA’s website;
https://www.bmtrada.com/resources/what-is-a-fire-door-plug
