A safe escape route, the highest priority!

The doors of Alara-Lukagro are applied in many places all over the world because of their excellent acoustic properties. However, our doors have more functions to fulfil, such as security, insulation and compartmentalization in case of fire or another calamity. Many of these functions focus on keeping the door closed, but a door is also the main escape route to a safer environment. How is this taken care of in legislation and regulation?

The purpose of the legislator with regard to fire security is twofold:

• Protection of people;
• Limitation of fire development and fire expansion.

A safe escape route in case of calamities

Being able to use a safe escape route in case of fire or another calamity has thus the highest priority, because it is the best protection against smoke and fire.

Safety doors are submitted to various norms which indicate whether a door is suitable and allowed for use as an escape door. The norms in use are:

• NEN-EN179: This norm describes the requirements for mechanical closings of emergency exits;
• NEN-EN1125: This norm describes the requirements for mechanical closings of panic exits;
• EN13637: This norm describes the electrically controlled emergency exits;
• EN13633: This norm describes the electrically controlled panic exits.

The main differences between an emergency exit and a panic exit are the number of people that use the passage way and how well they are supposed to know the way out and the use of the passage way. That’s why we mostly find panic exits in the public environment and nightlife locations.

Furthermore, our doors have to comply with regulations regarding the size and weight of the door, which is a maximum of 2520 mm in height and a maximum of 1320 mm in width, with a weight not exceeding 400 kg. The doorway in which the door is being placed also has to meet certain requirements.

Safety doors with both an escape and panic function

The escape and panic doors of Alara-Lukagro have been tested and certified by SKG-IKOB. This resulted in the certificate “constancy of performance” conform EN14351-1:2006+A2:2016, proving this test was not a one-time success.