Fire Shutters
A fire shutter closes an opening that is too wide, too tall or too busy for a swing door: shopping centre malls, car park ramps, warehouse transfer bays and plant room fronts. It stays out of the way when the space is in use and drops on a signal from the fire detection system, so the compartment line is restored without a door leaf standing in the traffic path. Steel and inorganic-fabric assemblies behave differently — one gives rigidity and security, the other gives a lighter curtain and larger spans — so the choice follows the opening, the fire strategy and what the space does every day.
In this category
Selection notes
- Decide whether the opening also needs security. A fire shutter is not automatically a security shutter, and the two requirements are often confused.
- Confirm the release logic with the fire strategy: local detection, building alarm interface, or both.
- For very wide openings, the number of curtains and the guide arrangement changes the headroom required.
- Plan the maintenance access to the motor and the control panel at design stage; retrofitting access later is expensive.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a fire shutter also work as a daily-use door?
- It can, but daily cycling changes the duty requirements on the motor and the control system. Say so at enquiry stage.
- What triggers the drop?
- The release is wired to the fire detection interface defined by the project. The interface is agreed before the control panel is built.
- Are fabric shutters suitable outdoors?
- Outdoor exposure changes the specification. It is confirmed per project rather than offered as standard.
- How is the shutter maintained?
- Periodic inspection of the curtain, guides, release mechanism and control panel is required. Access provision should be designed in.
Related categories
- Steel Fire DoorsSteel fire doors are the workhorse of a building's passive fire protection
- Steel & Wood Fire DoorsA steel and wood fire door keeps the structural discipline of a steel door and gives it the face a guest will actually see
- Wooden Fire DoorsTimber fire doors are specified where the interior has to look like an interior
- Stainless Steel Fire DoorsStainless steel fire doors are chosen where cleaning agents, humidity and hygiene rules would destroy a painted finish within a couple of years
- Glass Fire DoorsA glass fire door keeps the compartment line intact without turning a lobby or atrium into a corridor of blank panels
- Fire ShuttersA fire shutter closes an opening that is too wide, too tall or too busy for a swing door: shopping centre malls, car park ramps, warehouse transfer bays and plant room fronts
- Fire Rated WindowsFire rated windows close the parts of a compartment line that have to stay transparent: external walls facing a boundary, stairwell enclosures, corridor screens and plant room observation openings
- Refuge Room Fire DoorsA refuge room door is the last line between a place people are told to wait and the fire they are waiting out
- Shaft Fire DoorsShaft fire doors are the small, heavily used access panels of a building's service core
- Oversized & Industrial Fire DoorsOversized fire doors solve the openings that standard door schedules cannot: factory bays, warehouse transfer points, plant room fronts and industrial buildings where equipment has to pass through the compartment line