Ok here's one for you. Building a music studio inside a new youth club. Room within a room design. The doors need to be soundproofed and so they have acoustic seals and compression latches (like a freezer door)
- Building regs part M says they need to be easy to open and that door closers must not be too powerful. Door closers for this type of door NEED to be powerful. What is the answer - exemption in access statement?
I'd guess that unless they specify the effort needed to open it's just a guideline. So closers powerful to do the job will be ok.
However, most studios use a lock mechanism to achieve a good seal rather than relying on door closers where the best results are needed. People shouldn't be encouraged to enter/leave a studio when in use except when really necessary, so fit an external red light too. ;-)
Oh use your common sense. Go and seek professional advice if you can't work it out.
Oh dear, djc is having a bad day at his medication ;-)
-- Adrian C
On 22 Nov 2006 09:51:56 -0800, a particular chimpanzee named "oktopusinc" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:
If it's a room accessed through another room or off a corridor with escape routes in two directions, rather than a room off a stair or dead-end corridor, then it probably doesn't need a self-closing device. If the door is fitted correctly and the hinges do not have a high degree of friction, then it should be possible to achieve an opening force of 20N or less. The latch should be openable with a closed fist (ie, not a thumb-turn) either by pushing on the mechanism like an old freezer door, or by turning a lever.
If all this fails then, yes, make it known in the access statement that the room cannot perform as required if the full recommendations are met, and maybe make it clear that you have tried to do the above. No guarantees though.
It's the medication I feel sorry for.
Owain
On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 18:18:25 +0000 (GMT), a particular chimpanzee named "Dave Plowman (News)" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:
There is a specified opening force of 20N maximum in AD 'M'. BS 8300 allows for 30N from 0-30° & 22.5N after that.
Ah. Thanks for that. In one studio I frequent it's not the door closers that make them difficult to open but the ventilation. ;-)
An airlock - two sets of doors - is good. Hermetically sealed units of high mass are the best.
Well thanks for the sensible replies. I will be getting professional help I guess - just thought I would bounce some ideas around. I do have an airlock but still need compression seals.
The message from "oktopusinc" contains these words:
What about those solenoid door locks? Would a couple of those have sufficient pull to clamp the seal down after an ordinary closer had got it close enough?
Thanks for the tip Guy - any suppliers or Manufacturers you can recommend?
Paul
Guy K> The message
The message from "oktopusinc" contains these words:
Nope, I've never used them, just met them on various security doors.
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