# Fire Door Hardware 2026: Which Components Must Be Rated, EN 1634-1 vs UL 10C and NFPA 252, and What a Certificate Covers

> Everything fixed to or cut into a fire door has to be part of the tested assembly: the hinges, the lock or latch, the closer, intumescent and smoke seals, exit devices, glazing and beads, flush bolts and coordinators on pairs, and the fixings. A certificate covers only the configuration and scope that were tested, and an EN 1634-1 classification is not a UL 10C listing. Our 307 and 311 exit devices do not hold certificates today; until certificate numbers exist we do not claim a fire rating for them.

Source: https://cantonlock.com/guides/fire-door-hardware-what-must-be-rated-2026/ · HYDE (Canton Hyland Hardware & Building Material Co., Ltd.), door hardware manufacturer, Zhongshan, China · Published 2026-09-21 · Updated 2026-10-26

The most expensive misunderstanding in this industry is the belief that a fire door is a door. It is not. It is an assembly (leaf, frame, seals, hinges, lock, closer, and every fixing) that was tested together and passed together, and the certificate describes that assembly rather than any one part of it.

HYDE (Canton Hyland, Zhongshan, since 1998) makes the 307 and 311 covered in this article.

Everything difficult about fire door hardware follows from that single sentence.

## Which components have to be rated

Anything that is fixed to the door, cut into the door, or that the door's performance depends on.

Hinges. They hold the leaf in the frame while it distorts under heat, and a hinge that fails drops the leaf out of the opening. Suitability for fire use is a field in the EN 1935 classification and is not a property of the material.

The lock or latch. A fire door works by staying closed; a leaf held only by a closer against a warped frame is not a barrier. The latch has to keep engaging the strike as the assembly moves.

The closer. It is what returns the door to the closed position, and a fire door propped open or left ajar performs as an opening rather than as a door.

Intumescent and smoke seals. These expand under heat to close the gaps, and they are the component most often disturbed by later work, a lock fitted after handover can cut straight through a seal groove.

Exit devices and any panic hardware. These are both life-safety and fire components and are among the least interchangeable products in any catalog.

Glazing and glazing beads, where the door has a vision panel. The glass, the bead, the seal and the fixing method are all part of the tested configuration.

Flush bolts, coordinators and selectors on pairs. A pair of fire doors has to close in the correct order, and the coordinator is what makes that happen.

The fixings. Screws and through-bolts are part of the assembly, and a fixing substituted for a similar-looking one is a change to what was tested.

Anything else cut into the leaf, letter plates, air transfer grilles, cable transfers, electric strikes. Each is a hole in a barrier, and each needs to have been in the test or to have its own rated treatment.

## EN 1634-1 and the North American standards

EN 1634-1 is the European fire resistance test for door and shutter assemblies. A result is expressed as a period in minutes with a letter classification (E for integrity, EI for integrity plus insulation, EW for integrity plus radiation) so EI 30 and E 30 are different results for the same duration.

That distinction is the one most often lost in translation. Integrity means the assembly stops flame and hot gas passing. Insulation means it also limits the temperature rise on the unexposed face. A door specified as EI when only E was tested is a specification that has not been met.

UL 10C and NFPA 252 are the corresponding North American tests. UL 10C is the positive pressure test, and the detail worth knowing is the hose stream test: after the fire exposure, the assembly is hit with a pressurised water jet. It tests whether what survived the fire also survives the impact and thermal shock of firefighting, and it has no direct counterpart in EN 1634-1.

This is why an EN result and a UL listing are not translations of each other. They test overlapping but not identical things, and no supplier can convert one into the other. A building in a jurisdiction that requires UL 10C needs a UL listing, not an EN classification with a favorable comparison attached.

## Tested with the door, or tested on its own

Hardware on a fire door is tested in two different senses, and confusing them is where most bad paperwork starts. A component standard tests the hardware by itself: cycles, forces, corrosion, the security of the latch. A fire test tests the door with the hardware on it. Only the second says anything about fire, and the component standards are careful to say so.

In Europe the doorset is tested to EN 1634-1 and classified to EN 13501-2, and since 2015 there has been a harmonized product standard for fire-resisting and smoke-control doorsets, EN 16034, under the Construction Products Regulation. It covers only the fire and smoke characteristics, including the door's ability to release and to self-close, and it is used together with the product standard for the type of door. For external pedestrian doorsets that is EN 14351-1; the coexistence period ended on 1 November 2019, and CE marking became the only route. Internal pedestrian doorsets depend on a companion standard, EN 14351-2, so check whether it has been cited for your market before assuming an internal fire door can carry a CE mark.

EN 16034 refers to the hardware standards by number: EN 1935 for hinges, EN 1154 for closers, EN 1155 for electrically powered hold-open devices, EN 1158 for coordinators, EN 12209 for locks and latches, and EN 179 and EN 1125 for exit devices. Each of those has a fire-suitability grade in its own classification code, and that grade is eligibility, not performance. In EN 1154 and EN 1125 it is granted subject to a satisfactory assessment of the component's contribution to the fire resistance of a specified door assembly, and EN 1935 says the same in its own words: suitability for fire doors is decided by tests in addition to the ones in the standard. A hinge graded as suitable has passed the hinge tests and may be put into a fire test. On that grade alone, it has not been in one.

There is also a fire test written for hardware, EN 1634-2, a characterization test for building hardware fitted to hinged and pivoted fire doors. Its results describe how a piece of hardware behaves in the furnace. They do not classify a door; that still comes from the doorset's own test and the scope of application covered in the next section.

In the United States the same split is drawn in different words. The door assembly is tested to UL 10C or NFPA 252, and NFPA 80 governs installation and upkeep. NFPA 80 allows an assembly to be made from components labeled or listed by different manufacturers and different laboratories, but every component has to be labeled, listed or classified for use on a fire door assembly, and a component that has not been through UL 10C or NFPA 252, or whatever test the adopted code calls for, is a routine finding at inspection. Some products, hinges among them, are commonly listed rather than labeled, so the evidence is a listing to look up, not a mark on the part.

Exit devices show both halves at once. Panic hardware is listed to UL 305, which covers the escape function. Fire exit hardware is panic hardware that has also been tested for use on fire doors, and the 2025 edition of NFPA 80 says simply that fire exit hardware shall be labeled as such. A device with only the panic listing is not fire exit hardware, however similar it looks.

| | Tested with the door | Tested on its own |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Europe | EN 1634-1, classified to EN 13501-2; EN 16034 for the CE mark | EN 1935, EN 1154, EN 1155, EN 1158, EN 12209, EN 179, EN 1125, each with a fire-suitability grade |
| United States | UL 10C or NFPA 252; NFPA 80 for installation | UL 305 for panic hardware; the ANSI/BHMA A156 series for grades |
| What it proves | That door, with that hardware set, held for the stated time | The part meets its own durability, force and security tests |
| What it does not prove | That a different hinge, closer or lock would do the same | Anything about fire on its own |

## What a certificate actually covers

It covers the configuration that was tested, within the scope of application stated on it. That scope is the part people skip, and it is where almost all real-world non-compliance originates.

A certificate states a leaf size range, a frame type, a hardware set, a glazing arrangement and a set of permitted variations. Outside that scope, the certificate says nothing, not that the assembly fails, but that it was not tested and no claim is supported.

So: substituting a hinge of the same size and a different classification takes the door outside its certificate. Adding a vision panel that was not in the test takes it outside. Fitting a closer with a different mounting takes it outside. Using a longer screw takes it outside if the fixing was part of the tested set.

None of these substitutions necessarily makes a door unsafe. All of them make it undocumented, and at an inspection an undocumented fire door and a failed one are treated identically, because there is no evidence to distinguish them.

## Which hardware is tested with the door

A fire door's rating comes from one furnace test of a whole doorset: a full-size leaf and frame, built and hung as it will be installed, fitted with its hardware, mounted in a test wall and heated from one side. In Europe that test is EN 1634-1; in North America it is UL 10C or NFPA 252. The hardware on the test specimen is what the result covers, and the test report records it item by item. Hardware that was not on the specimen reaches the door only through the rules of its scope: in Europe the field of application, often prepared under the extended application standards of the EN 15269 series; in North America the door manufacturer's listing and the label or listing of each component.

| Item | Normally in the doorset's fire test evidence? | What the evidence usually records |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hinges or pivots | Yes | Type, how many per leaf, positions, fixings |
| Lock or latch, with its strike | Yes | The latch that holds the door shut, the case and forend size, the strike |
| Closer or floor spring | Yes | Type, mounting side, arm or channel |
| Exit device | Yes, where fitted | Rim, mortise or vertical rod, and which leaf |
| Coordinator and flush bolts on pairs | Yes, on pairs | Model and position on each leaf |
| Intumescent and smoke seals | Yes | Material, size and position in the frame or leaf edge |
| Intumescent kits for hinges and lock cases | Yes, where the door needs them | The pads or wraps fitted behind hinge blades and around the lock case |
| Door stops and hold-open magnets on the wall or floor | No | Not part of the specimen |
| Kick plates, push plates and signs | Usually not | Covered by the door manufacturer's limits or the code, not by the test |
| Access-control readers and power supplies on the wall | No | Not part of the specimen |

The items in the lower rows are not tested with the door because they are not on the door, or because they are small surface additions that the door manufacturer's scope or the code deals with by rule. That does not make them free. A wall magnet has to release the door to its closer when the alarm sounds, and a surface plate has limits of its own: NFPA 80, for example, requires a labeled protection plate when its top edge is more than 16 in (406 mm) above the bottom of the door. Ask before fitting anything to a fire door that is not on its schedule.

Test evidence belongs to a door construction, not to a hardware model. A closer that was on the specimen of a timber doorset says nothing about a steel one, and a lock tested on a 30-minute door says nothing about a 60-minute door. Hardware makers sometimes have their product fire tested on a door, or assessed across a range of doors, so that other doorsets can cite it; that evidence still names the door constructions it covers, and it belongs to the party that sponsored the test.

So the useful request is specific. Ask for the hardware schedule recorded in the test report or field of application of the door you are buying, with model references, not a list of compatible brands. For each item on your own schedule, ask which document places it on that door construction: the test report, an extended application or field of application report, or a listing or label. For items outside the specimen, ask for the door manufacturer's written limits. And ask who specifies the intumescent kit for each hinge and lock, because that kit is part of what was tested.

The same questions apply to hardware bought from us. The answer is whatever the product page states; where the page says nothing about fire, there is no test evidence to send.

## Field labels and the record

A fire door that has been altered on site loses the basis of its original certification, and in many jurisdictions the route back is a field label or an equivalent re-certification by a competent person, which is a survey and a cost rather than a form.

The practical discipline is documentary: whoever changes anything on a fire door records what was changed and against what evidence. A building whose fire doors have been maintained for ten years without that record has a hundred doors that each need surveying to prove something everybody already believes.

## What we carry, stated plainly

This is where a supplier's page normally becomes vague, so we will be specific.

Where one of our products has been tested as part of a fire-rated assembly and a certificate exists, the product page states the standard, the classification and the scope, and the certificate is available on request.

Where a product has not been tested, the page says nothing about fire performance, and that silence is deliberate. Our 307 and 311 exit devices do not hold certificates today. Until certificate numbers exist, nothing we publish will imply that they hold a fire rating, an ANSI grade or a UL listing, not in a product description, not in a comparison, and not by putting a standard's number near a product that has not been tested to it.

We also do not reproduce another manufacturer's certificate, listing or grade to describe our own product. A certificate belongs to the assembly it was issued for, and borrowing one is the same category of error as inventing a dimension.

## The five questions to ask any supplier

Which standard, and which classification, EI or E, and how many minutes; or UL 10C, and what listing number.

What is the scope of application on the certificate, and does our door fall inside it.

Which exact hardware set was in the tested assembly.

Can we see the certificate itself, not a summary of it.

If the answer to any of these is a comparison to another product, treat that as a no. A fire rating is a document or it is nothing.

## FAQ

### Which door hardware components have to be fire rated?

Everything fixed to the door, cut into it, or that its performance depends on: hinges, the lock or latch, the closer, intumescent and smoke seals, exit devices, glazing and beads, flush bolts and coordinators on pairs, the fixings themselves, and anything else cut into the leaf such as letter plates or air transfer grilles.

### What is the difference between EI 30 and E 30?

E is integrity, the assembly stops flame and hot gas passing. EI adds insulation, meaning it also limits the temperature rise on the unexposed face. They are different results for the same duration, so a door specified as EI when only E was tested has not met the specification.

### How does UL 10C differ from EN 1634-1?

UL 10C includes a hose stream test: after the fire exposure the assembly is hit with a pressurised water jet, testing whether it also survives the impact and thermal shock of firefighting. EN 1634-1 has no direct counterpart. The two are not translations of each other and no supplier can convert one into the other.

### What does a fire certificate actually cover?

The configuration that was tested, within the scope of application printed on it, a leaf size range, a frame type, a hardware set, a glazing arrangement and permitted variations. Outside that scope the certificate says nothing: not that the door fails, but that no claim is supported.

### Can I substitute a hinge of the same size on a fire door?

Not without taking the door outside its certificate. Fire suitability is a field in the EN 1935 classification, not a property of the material, and the hinges were part of the tested assembly. The substitution may well be safe; it is undocumented, and at inspection an undocumented fire door and a failed one are treated the same way.

### Do your exit devices carry a fire rating?

Our 307 and 311 exit devices do not hold certificates today. Until certificate numbers exist, nothing we publish will imply they hold a fire rating, an ANSI grade or a UL listing. Where a product has been tested, the page states the standard, the classification and the scope, and the certificate is available on request.

### Which door hardware is tested together with the fire door?

In a fire test the whole doorset is tested with its hardware fitted: hinges, lock or latch, closer, seals, exit device, coordinator and fixings, to EN 1634-1 in Europe or UL 10C or NFPA 252 in North America. The hardware's own standards, such as EN 1935, EN 1154 or EN 12209, test the parts alone and only grade them as suitable to be assessed on a fire door.

### What is EN 16034?

The harmonized European product standard for fire-resisting and smoke-control doorsets. It covers the fire and smoke characteristics, including release and self-closing, is used with EN 14351-1 for external pedestrian doorsets, and has been the only route to a CE mark for those since 1 November 2019.

### Is panic hardware the same as fire exit hardware?

No. Panic hardware is listed to UL 305 for the escape function. Fire exit hardware is panic hardware that has also been tested for use on fire doors and is labeled as fire exit hardware, and it has no mechanical dogging.

### Which items on a fire door are usually not part of its fire test?

Items fixed to the wall or floor rather than the leaf, such as door stops, hold-open magnets and access-control readers, and small surface items such as kick plates and signs. They are governed by the door manufacturer's limits or the code instead. NFPA 80, for example, requires a labeled protection plate when its top edge is more than 16 in (406 mm) above the bottom of the door.

### What should I ask for before adding hardware to a fire doorset?

The hardware schedule recorded in the door's test report or field of application, item by item with model references; for each item you plan to fit, the document that places it on that door construction, such as the test report, an extended application report or a listing; the door manufacturer's written limits for anything outside the specimen; and who specifies the intumescent kit for each hinge and lock.

Related HYDE models: 307, 311