Garage Door To Living Space Fire Requirements

To meet fire separation requirements the door must be one of three types of doors.

Garage door to living space fire requirements.

Walls and ceiling the wall between an attached garage and the house living area is required to be minimum 1 2 drywall. Solid wood door not less than 1 3 8 thick. A solid wood door not less than 1 3 8 inches thick a solid or honeycomb core steel doors not less than 1 3 8 inches thick or a 20 minute fire rated door with a self closing device. Most garages have a ceiling secured to the bottom chord of the roof trusses or rafters and that has to be 1 2 drywall also.

Other openings between the garage and the residence shall be equipped with solid wood doors not less than 1 3 8 35 mm in thickness solid or honeycomb core steel doors not less than 1 3 8 35 mm thick or 20 minute fire rated doors. There are requirements for the walls and ceiling door to the house hvac ducts and any other garage house penetrations. Because houses don t have firewalls it is recommended at minimum to use solid wood doors not less than 1 3 8 35 mm in thickness solid or honeycomb core steel doors not less than 1 3 8 35 mm thick or 20 minute fire rated doors. In short the garage needs to be separated from the house in case of fire but this isn t a fire rated assembly nor is it a firewall.

To increase level of life safety within a home look into sprinkler systems. The wall between a house and garage must be separated by 1 2 drywall. Attached garages must have a firewall separating the. Steel door with a solid of honeycomb core not less than 1 3 8 thick.

So for all these reasons the international residential code irc and residential edition of the florida building code fbc r302 5 have safety standards for a door that separates the garage from the house interior. The door cannot open directly onto a room used for sleeping purposes bedroom and must be one of the following types. Openings from a private garage directly into a room used for sleeping purposes shall not be permitted. This also applies to structural members and this extends to the attic in a.

Let s take them one at a time. R302 6 dwelling garage fire separation. R302 11 fireblocking item 4. By glenda taylor in most communities building codes require the construction of a fire rated barrier between the garage and any living space.

Reuben saltzman structure tech home inspections reuben saltzman july 31 2018. A door with a 20 minute fire rating. Doors separating the garage and living spaces shall be 1 3 8 solid wood solid or honeycomb core steel doors not less than 1 3 8 thick or 20 minute rated doors.