PSC deficiency code 07105: Fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions
Area 07 Fire safety
This code covers the doors, hatches and other openings that sit in fire-resisting bulkheads and decks: accommodation stairway enclosures, galley and engine room boundaries, control station doors. A fire door only holds a fire back if it closes by itself and seals, and that is what the inspector tests.
What the inspector looks at
The inspector walks the accommodation and engine casing and tries a few doors:
- Does the door close fully and latch from any opening angle, without a push?
- Are hold-back devices of an approved type with release from the control station, where fitted, and are there no hooks, wedges or ropes holding self-closing doors open?
- Are seals, gaskets and the door frame intact, with no gaps, holes or cut-outs for cables?
- Do door closers work, or are they disconnected, leaking or missing arms?
- Have non-approved items been fitted, such as ventilation grilles cut into A-class doors or replacement doors of an unknown standard?
Common findings
- Self-closing fire door to engine room held open with a wedge
- Fire door does not close fully, closer defective
- Door closing device removed or disconnected
- Fire door seal damaged or missing
- Holes in fire door or frame for cables or pipes not sealed with approved penetration
- Fire door to galley/stairway enclosure jammed, unable to latch
The rule behind it
SOLAS Chapter II-2, Regulation 9 (containment of fire) sets the requirements for fire doors and openings in A and B class divisions, including self-closing arrangements and hold-back devices. The fire test standards for the doors themselves are in the FTP Code. SOLAS II-2 Regulation 14 requires the fire protection systems to be kept in working order under the ship's maintenance plan, which is where missing or poor maintenance records come in.
Action codes you are likely to see
A wedged door that the crew removes on the spot is usually closed with code 10. A defective closer or a damaged seal tends to get 17 (rectify before departure) or 16 (within 14 days), depending on spares on board. Several doors in the same boundary that don't close, or a main stairway enclosure that can't be closed, can be raised as 30, because the fire boundary no longer holds. See the action taken codes.
How to close it
Repair or replace the closer, seals or hardware with parts that keep the door's approval. Any penetration added through the door or frame has to be made good with an approved system, and class should be consulted if the door itself was modified or replaced. Test every fire door in the area after the repair, record it in the planned maintenance system and keep photos and the record together with the Form B. The fire dampers in the same boundaries are often checked in the same round.