Alert! CCTV Exposes Fake and Inferior Fire-Rated Doors! ABA Fire-Rated Doors: Fortifying Life Safety with Cutting-Edge Technology
Introduction
Around March 15, fire departments across multiple regions launched special inspections of fire products and centralized destruction campaigns against counterfeit and substandard ones. As reported by CCTV News, 144 allegedly severely non-compliant fire-rated doors seized in Ningbo, Zhejiang, were burned through in just 22 minutes during the fire resistance limit test—far below the national standard requirement of no less than 1.5 hours for Class A fire-rated doors.
Inspections revealed that these problematic doors were filled with shoddy foamed cement that could be easily torn apart by hand. The door bodies had neither permanent steel stamp markings nor fire-resistant sealing strips. Fire departments pointed out that the root cause of the door failure was the substandard density of the filling material, which cracks rapidly at high temperatures.
Part 1: New National Standard Certification – The Statutory Benchmark for Fire-Rated Door Quality
In 2024, the new national standard GB 12955-2024 Fire-Rated Doors was officially implemented, with clear stipulations:
Fire-rated door cores are classified into Classes A, B and C by fire resistance performance. Among them, Class A insulated fire-rated door cores are graded by fire resistance time as A3.0 (180 mins), A2.5 (150 mins), A2.0 (120 mins), A1.5 (90 mins), A1.0 (60 mins), A0.5 (30 mins), etc.
Nameplates must be permanent steel stamps; paper labels are strictly prohibited.
Qualified fire-resistant intumescent sealing strips must be installed between door frames and leaves, which expand rapidly at high temperatures to effectively block smoke and flames.
Filling materials must meet the specified density to prevent cracking at high temperatures.
The fake and inferior fire-rated doors exposed by CCTV violated all these critical requirements:
No permanent steel stamps: Only removable paper labels on the doors, with no traceable production information.
Shoddy filling materials: Interior filled with low-quality foamed cement, easily torn by hand and with severely substandard density.
Non-compliant sealing strips: Ordinary rubber strips used instead of fire-resistant intumescent ones, losing smoke-proof functionality.
Grossly insufficient fire resistance time: Burned through in just 22 minutes in tests, far below the 1.5-hour standard for Class A doors.
Fire departments emphasized that these defective doors cannot block fire and smoke in a fire, posing a major hidden danger to public safety.
Part 2: A High-Quality Door Core – The "Heart" of a Reliable Fire-Rated Door
The fire resistance performance of a fire-rated door hinges on its core material. A high-quality door core must meet three core requirements simultaneously: Class A non-combustibility, structural stability at high temperatures, and no efflorescence or pulverization during long-term use. Inferior fillers such as shoddy foamed cement and paperboard crack and conduct heat rapidly in a fire, rendering the fire-rated door useless.
ABA's independently developed THE CORAL® Integrated Fire-Rated Door Core is composed of THE CORAL® lightweight door core as the filling material and THE CORAL® high-strength fire board as the keel, combined through an integrated lamination process. It features one-piece molding, systematic fire protection, systematic waterproofing and moisture resistance, and systematic sound insulation, ensuring 100% compliance in random inspections.
Three Core Technologies
Micron-scale polycrystalline inorganic whiskers: Form a micro-reinforced structure with a compressive strength of 5.5-12.3MPa and a keel nail-holding force of 1000-2000N, balancing lightweight and high strength.
Inorganic polymer cementitious system: Creates a covalent bond-reinforced network, releasing no toxic gases at high temperatures and resisting efflorescence and pulverization in long-term use.
Aerogel-like foaming technology: Builds a honeycomb closed microporous structure with thermal conductivity controlled at 0.16W/(m·K), effectively inhibiting heat conduction.
Third-Party Authoritative Certifications
Passed the full-type inspection of fire-rated door core materials in accordance with China's new national standard (GB 12955-2024), with fire resistance limits meeting the requirements of different grades including A1.5 (≥90 mins), A1.0 (≥60 mins) and A0.5 (≥30 mins).
Class A1 non-combustible with AQ1 safe smoke toxicity level.
Free chloride ion content ＜0.1%, permanent anti-efflorescence, and a service life of over 50 years.
Formaldehyde emission ≤0.025mg/m³, meeting the ENF formaldehyde-free standard.
Certified as China Green Building Material and holding international FSC certification.
Structural Innovation: Creating the Thinnest Wooden Fire-Rated Door
Through material, process and structural innovation, ABA's wooden fire-rated doors replace the traditional 9-layer structure with a 7-layer one, creating the thinnest wooden fire-rated doors. The products do not use materials with high chloride ion content such as magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate and perlite, achieving true formaldehyde-free and non-toxic performance.
Part 3: Strategic Cooperation with Over 30 Domestic and Overseas Door Enterprises to Boost Industry Standardization
ABA has actively established strategic partnerships with more than 30 domestic and overseas fire-rated door manufacturers, providing them with THE CORAL® integrated door core technology and quality control systems. Cooperation partners include well-known domestic brands such as OPPEIN, Dazhai Door Industry, Chuntian and Qunsheng, as well as international industry leaders like BAN4, Halspan and Lexington in North America, Europe and the Middle East. Through technology authorization, joint R&D and quality control, ABA helps partners improve product performance and jointly drive the fire-rated door industry from price competition to quality competition.
Part 4: Exceeding National Standards – Certified to European and American Standards, Validated in Global Markets
ABA's fire-rated door products not only meet the requirements of China's new national standard but also pass stringent international certifications, with mature applications in overseas markets:
European EN Standard Certification: The EN120 series wooden fire-rated doors passed the 120-minute (2-hour) fire resistance limit test in accordance with EN 1634-1, reaching the highest grade for civil fire-rated doors. Suitable for key places such as data centers, financial core areas and laboratories. Full coverage of EN60, EN90 and EN120 series.
American UL Standard Certification: Custom UL series wooden fire-rated doors passed the 60-minute and 90-minute tests (including high-pressure water impact) in accordance with UL 10C, withstanding the dual extreme tests of fierce flames and high-pressure water columns. Suitable for high-standard commercial and industrial projects.
Project Cases of Fire-Rated Doors Compliant with International Standards
Hong Kong MIC Apartments: Adopted ABA's fire-rated door system, meeting the high standards of the Hong Kong Housing Authority for public housing projects.
Macau New Town Zone A: Supplied fire-rated door products for Macau's major livelihood project, helping build a safe and livable community.
US, Middle East and Indian Markets: Products exported overseas and validated in international landmark projects.
The fake and inferior fire-rated door incident exposed by CCTV sounds the alarm again: fire-rated doors are not ordinary doors, and any act of cutting corners or forging certifications is a serious threat to public safety. The new national standard has set a clear bottom line for the industry. With its independently developed THE CORAL® integrated fire-rated door core as the core, ABA takes the new national standard as the benchmark and international certifications as the yardstick, committed to providing fire-rated door products that stand the test for global construction.
We look forward to working with more industry partners to jointly promote the standardized upgrading of the fire-rated door industry and build a genuine safety line for every building.