Fire Rated Fixed Panel

Fire-Rated Fixed Panel — 120-Minute Rated Sidelite to Complete Wide Fire Door Assemblies

Many architectural openings in buildings are wider than a standard fire door leaf or double-leaf assembly. Lift lobby entrances, reception hall fire compartment boundaries, wide corridor openings, and full-height glazed screens may span 3 to 8 metres. The fire door leaf covers the pedestrian access portion of the opening — but the remaining width on either side must also be fire-rated to maintain the integrity of the compartment boundary. This is the role of the fire-rated fixed panel.

What Is a Fixed Panel?

A fixed panel (also called a sidelite, fixed light, or fixed partition) is a non-operable — permanently closed — fire-rated panel section installed adjacent to the fire door leaf within the same assembly. It fills the width between the fire door frame and the adjacent wall return, or between two fire door frames in a wide opening, completing the fire-rated compartment boundary across the full opening width.

Because the fixed panel is part of the same fire-rated assembly as the door, it must be manufactured to the same fire rating (120 minutes in the IFES range), using compatible materials and construction methods, and sealed at all panel-to-frame and panel-to-wall junctions with intumescent and smoke seals — just like the door leaf perimeter.

Construction

Frame: GI steel frame in the same profile as the adjacent IFES fire door frame — single-rebate or double-rebate as required by the assembly. The matching profile ensures a visually seamless junction between the door frame and the fixed panel frame, and allows the same seal types to be used at all panel junctions.

Infill: Mineral wool insulation core providing non-combustible fire insulation for the 120-minute rated duration. Optional fire-rated glass panel (clear or wired) where visual transparency through the fixed panel is architecturally required.

Sealing: Intumescent fire seals at all panel-to-frame junctions. Cold smoke seals. Perimeter fire-rated mastic sealant at panel-to-wall interfaces. All seals compatible with the 120-minute fire rating of the assembly.

Applications

Lift lobby entrances in high-rise residential and commercial buildings. Wide corridor fire compartmentation openings. Reception hall glazed fire screens. Hotel lobby fire door assemblies with flanking sidelites. Hospital main entrance fire compartment boundaries. Any application where the opening width exceeds the practical span of a fire door leaf assembly.