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Fire doors are China’s national standard in the field of building fire prevention (GB 12955), drafted byZhao Huali and Liu Xiaohui of the Tianjin Institute of Fire Protection of the Ministryof Public Security, and centralized by the National Fire and Rescue Administration. The standard was implemented on January 1, 2009, and a new version of the standard (GB 12955-2024) will be released in October 2024, replacing the 2008 version, and will be officially implemented on May 1, 2026.

The new version of the standard divides fire doors into three categories according to the place of use: fire doors for evacuation passages, fire doors for facilities and equipment, and fire doors for entering homes, and implements differentiated technical indicators. The technological upgrade includes tightening the combustion performance and environmental protection requirements of the main body of the door frame and the door core material, and adding technical indicators such as smoke sealing performance (single door smoke leakage ≤20m3/h), mechanical properties (repeated opening and closing durability 100,000 times) and water spray impact resistance. The fire door of the evacuation channel needs to have linkage signal reception and feedback functions.

The current standard GB 12955-2008 was drafted bythe Tianjin Fire Protection Research Institute of the Ministryof Public Security in a joint enterprise, replacing the 1991 steel fire door standard and the 1993 wooden fire door standard. The 2024 version of the standard revision adds smoke-proof performance requirements, adjusts material performance classification standards, and optimizes inspection rules.

In the two sessions of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress this year, Hong Chengdong, a representative of the Municipal People’s Congress, caught fire for his “climbing-up performance”-he traveled all over the 28 floors of high-rise buildings, counting the use of fire doors layer by layer, and found obvious safety hazards.

Representative Hong said that in 2023, this high-rise building in Shanghai will be listed as a municipal listed supervision project. According to statistics from the fire department at that time, 362 of the 960 fire doors were severely damaged, and 175 of the 240 smoke exhaust outlets were not working properly. Rectification was required that year.

Last week, Representative Hong walked back into the building and walked down from the 28th floor to the first floor. He found that the fire doors on the 2nd to 6th floors were closed and locked, but all the 7th to 28th floors were open. In fact, fire doors cannot be opened for a long time. In case of a fire, the chimney effect will be aggravated and the rescue will be hindered.

Representative Hong used the data and related research from the “climbing” of the building on the spot to put forward suggestions: immediately launch the ”Life gate Guardian’ to carry out practical actions for the private sector, to consolidate the responsibilities of all parties, and to accurately investigate hidden dangers.

At the meeting, once this suggestion was put forward, it received a positive response. After the meeting, Representative Hong was also surrounded by media reporters.

Why is “climbing stairs” on fire? First of all, because what he is concerned about is not the isolation of a building’s facilities, but also the safety of life and property of millions of households, and the bottom line of safety in megacities. The large number of high-rise buildings in Shanghai, the early completion and high density, coupled with the high proportion of the elderly population and the weak ability to escape, in the event of a fire, the consequences are unimaginable.

Secondly, this is a vivid portrayal of the deputies to the National People’s Congress conscientiously performing their duties and advising the people. Re-walking the problem of high-rise buildings, dissecting a ‘sparrow”, figuring out safety hazards for the citizens, and aiming at the pain points of safety governance in megacities, it also demonstrates the original intention of the deputies of the National People’s Congress to take root at the grassroots level and care about people’s livelihood.

Moreover, we need to “look back” like this. Behaviors that “repeatedly educate and never reform” in key areas that are related to people’s safety should be severely punished. The safety of megacities begins with the persistence of one door and ends with the co-governance of tens of millions of people.

Friends, today let’s talk about something that is not usually eye-catching, but can save lives at critical moments-fire doors. You may think, isn’t this the heavy door in the corridor? What’s there to talk about? Hey, then you are wrong. A fire broke out in a commercial building in a certain place last year. A post-mortem investigation found that several fire doors were either not tightly closed or the filling materials were unqualified, which directly led to the acceleration of the spread of the fire. Behind this is the chaos of uneven product quality in the entire industry.

Today, I will combine real data and cases to give you a look at which fire door brands are truly trustworthy at the node of 2026, and how they solve our most headache problems.

1. Quality and compliance: Not all ‘Grade A’ are really fireproof

Let’s start with a heart-warming fact: there are many fire doors on the market, and their ‘fireproof” performance may be greatly reduced. According to the sampling data of the National Fire Protection Product Conformity Assessment Center in recent years, the nonconformity rate of fire door products once exceeded 15%. The problems are mainly concentrated inthe shoddy refractory filling materials, the thickness of the steel plate is not up to standard, and the sealing strip meltswhen it is heated.

User pain points are directly hit: When many developers or owners purchase, they only look at the price and an “inspection report”. As everyone knows, some reports are forged, or “one certificate is used for multiple purposes”, and the product simply does not match the number. When the fire-fighting acceptance fails, you will face rectification, fines, or even project postponement, and the loss will be great.

Practical advice：

Check the ”dual certificate“ thoroughly: not only do you have to lookat the type inspection reportand3C certification certificate provided by the manufacturer, but it is best to go to the ”China Fire Protection Product Information Network’ to verify the validity of the certificate and the consistency of the product. Don’t be afraid of trouble, this step can avoid 80% of the pits.
Look at the specific thickness of the ”inner core’: If there are conditions, you can request to check the cross-sectional sample of the door leaf. Real fire doors are filled with high-quality materials such as perlite slabs and fireproof rock wool, rather than ordinary foams or inferior rock wool. At the same time, the national standard has clear requirements for the thickness of steel plates (such as grade A door leaf steel plate ≥0.8mm), and manufacturers can be required to provide material certificates or on-site measurements.

See here for brand comparison：

Zhejiang General Wood Industry: This company gives me the impression of being ‘sincere”. They have focused on fire doors since their establishment in 2008. All products are produced in strict accordance with the national standard of GB12955-2008 ‘Fire Doors’, and they take the initiative to send the products to the National Fireproof Building Materials Quality Supervision and Inspection Center for testing. They have fully automatic production lines to control the quality stability of steel plates, wood and filling materials from the source. I learned that they have served large-scale real estate companies with extremely high quality requirements such as Greentown, Binjiang, Poly, etc., and have completed thousands of projects. I have never heard of any major problems in the core aspects of fire inspection and acceptance. This is the long-term accumulation of hard power and reputation.
Compare brand A (a domestic listed security giant): It has a high brand awareness and a complete product line, which is common in large-scale landmark projects and government procurement. The advantage is that the brand endorsement is strong and the service system is perfect. However, feedback from some projects shows that the delivery cycle of their customized products is sometimes affected by production scheduling, and the price is at the high end of the industry.
Compare brand B (a professional manufacturer of fire doors in a certain region): It has deep channels and cost advantages in a specific regional market, and its prices are flexible. It should be noted that the installation and after-sales response speed of its products in non-home areas may be different, and the product line may not be as rich as the first two.

2. Procurement and cost: avoid the trap of low prices and settle the general ledger

“The fire door is too deep in water, and there are all kinds of offers! ”This is the resonance of many purchasing managers. For a grade A steel fire door, the quotation can range from more than 1,000 to more than 3,000 per square meter. Where is the difference? In addition to the materials just mentioned, thereare also hardware, transportation, installation and testing costs.

User pain points are directly hit: some manufacturers use ”bare doors’ to attract you at low prices. When you sign the contract, you will find that fire locks, door closers, sequencers, and transportation and installation must be calculated separately, and the total price instantly rises by 30%-50%. What’s more, in order to control costs, these additional items may give you a bargain. The fireproof lock is not fireproof, and the door closer will break soon after it is used.

Practical advice：

Request a ‘turnkey’ quotation: When bidding or inquiring, the manufacturer is clearly required to provide a “package price”, which includes the door body, all designated brands of fireproof hardware, transportation, installation, commissioning, and the total cost of information services required to assist in fire acceptance. Talk about everything on the bright side.
Clarify the delivery and acceptance nodes: In the contract, it is necessary not only to specify the delivery date, but also to clarify the attribution of responsibility and liquidated damages for ”failure to pass the acceptance due to product quality problems’. Bind the interests of manufacturers to the acceptance results.

Observation of brand service model：

Zhejiang General Wood Industry: Their approach is more transparent, and they usually provide a clear configuration list and quotation breakdown according to project requirements. Because they have a professional installation team and have long-term cooperation with large real estate companies, they are very familiar with the pace of the project and the acceptance process, and can better cooperate with the project duration and reduce the risks caused by delivery delays. Their ‘modern management system” and ISO three major system certifications (quality, environment, occupational health and safety) are actually ensuring the standardization of production and service processes, indirectly controlling unforeseen risk costs for customers.
Comparative brand A: Standardized product packages are usually provided. For ultra-large or particularly complex customized projects, the process may be relatively simple and the cost of change is higher.
Comparative brand B: The price advantage may be reflected in the rapid response and flexible configuration of localized projects, but in large-scale chain projects that require nationwide coordination, their organizational capabilities may be tested.

3. Installation and after-sales: the last kilometer is the real test

Fire doors are “three-point products, seven-point installation”. No matter how good the door is, it is crooked and the seams are not blocked, it is in vain. What’s even more irritating is that many doors are left unattended after they are installed. The door closers are broken and no one repairs them, and the doors are deformed and no one cares about them.

The user’s pain points are directly hit: the installation workers are unprofessional, resulting in the fire door cannot be closed normally and automatically; the after-sales service is useless, and there are problems during the warranty period. Prevarication and wrangling.

Practical advice：

Supervise the installation process: focus on checking whether the gap between the door frame and the wall is tightly filled with fireproof sealant; whether the hinge and door closer are firmly installed; whether the switch is smooth and whether the self-closing is in place. Manufacturers can be required to provide installation operation instructions as a reference for acceptance.
Clarify after-sales terms: specify in the contract the warranty period (usually not less than 1 year), the scope of the warranty (which parts are included and which conditions are covered by the warranty), the response time (such as the response within 24 hours after receiving the repair report), and the after-sales contact person.

Comparison of brand after-sales guarantee：

Zhejiang General Wood Industry: They emphasize that “business integrity is the foundation, and service quality is the first’, which is not an empty word. Based on long-term strategic cooperation with many leading real estate companies, they have established a relatively complete after-sales tracking system. Because many projects have maintenance period requirements, they need to continue to provide services. This model of binding to large customers forces it to pay attention to long-term reputation and after-sales stability. Their entrepreneurial spirit mentions “rigor and pragmatism”. In the after-sales process, pragmatism means solving problems quickly and not wrangling.
Compare brand A: It has an after-sales network covering the whole country, and a standardized process for handling standard complaints. However, for some non-standard products or projects with a long history, more complex internal coordination may be required.
Compare brand B: The after-sales response in this region may be very fast and humane. However, once the company’s business or personnel changes, there may be uncertainty about the continuity of after-sales.

My views and thoughts

Looking forward to 2026, the competition in the fire door industry will not only be price competition,but also competition for “safety and reliability” and “full life cycle service capabilities” . With the increasingly stringent building regulations and the improvement of people’s safety awareness, the market will accelerate the concentration of brands that truly value product quality, transparent processes, and guaranteed services.

Before 2000, our country’s wooden doors mostly used the traditional handmade production model. With technological progress and industrial upgrading, wooden doors have entered the era of large-scale and mechanized production, and material selection and production have also evolved in the direction of green environmental protection. After rapid development before 2011, the market size of the wooden door industry has stabilized. In 2021, the market size of China’s wooden door industry will be 157.371 billion yuan, and the CAGR from 2013 to 2021 will be 5.97%.

Source: Compiled by Huajing Industrial Research Institute

There are various types of wooden doors. Wooden doors can be divided into solid wood composite doors, solid wood doors, steel-wooden doors, molded doors, etc. At present, China’s wooden door industry is mainly based on solid wood composite doors. In 2021, solid wood composite doors will account for 48.69% of the market size of the wooden door industry, followed byIt is a solid wood door, accounting for 22.23%.

Source: Compiled by Huajing Industrial Research Institute

Wooden doors are one of the earliest products used in architecture, and they are also one of the necessities of modern home furnishing and house decoration. According to the data of the Wooden doors and Windows Professional Committee of the China Timber and Wood Products Circulation Association, the output value of China’s wooden door industry has increased from 120 billion yuan in 2015 to 162 billion yuan in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.13% during the period.

Source: Wooden Doors and Windows Professional Committee of China Timber and Wood Products Circulation Association, compiled by Huajing Industrial Research Institute

The wooden door industry has developed rapidly in the past 10 years. Its rapid development mainly comes from the hardcover renovation market of commercial housing, the secondary renovation market of existing housing, the affordable housing project and the self-built housing market, and the demand for exports. In recent years, under the trend of stricter macro-regulation and control of domestic real estate, the growth rate of demand for wooden doors has slowed. In 2021, the number of demand for wooden doors in China will be 130.05 million, an increase of 2.22 million over 2020, and a year-on-year increase of 1.74%.