American Architectural Manufacturers Association

ICC Active Members Support AAMA’s Door Council Position

As reported in the April Door Council News article, AMD’s Side-Hinged Entry Door System Code Proposal Too Little, Too Soon?, the Association of Millwork Distributors (AMD) attempted to gain ICC approval of its own procedure, Testing and Rating of Static Pressure on Side Hinged Entry Door Systems [SHEDS] and Their Components, for adoption by the International Residential Code (IRC) to address their concerns with requiring performance testing of complete door assemblies vs. an industry practice of in-field substitution of components. Their proposal, RB127, approved by the ICC at the fall 2009 hearing, would provide for rating of a completed door assembly based upon testing of individual components in that assembly.

However, AAMA was successful in getting this reversed at the recent (May 15-23) ICC “A+” final action hearings in Dallas. In fact, this and two other proposals on behalf of the Door Safety Council, which would have permitted component-based rating of exterior door assemblies based on ANSI A250.13, were defeated. To read the final action of the 2009/2010 Group A+ ICC Code Change Cycle, visit the Members Only section of the AAMA website and go to Technical Area>Codes Information and Updates.

Although the concept of component-based rating of door assemblies is one that AAMA itself has pursued actively over the past few years, it is one that is proving to be complex. Testing conducted by the AAMA Door Council has found the methods proposed for consideration by ICC during this cycle were overly simplistic and did not adequately consider all the conditions that needed to be addressed.

While AAMA/WDMA/CSA 101/I.S.2/A440-08, NAFS - North American Fenestration Standard for windows, doors, and skylights (and its immediate 2005 predecessor) have been referenced by the I-codes, their sections on side-hinged doors are exempt due to the practice of component substitution by jobbers, distributors and door pre-hangers that must satisfy individual customers. If the NAFS standards’ requirements were enforced to the letter, each final side-hinged door configuration (with each custom menu of substituted components) would have to be separately tested, certified and labeled for compliance with the standard. AMD had argued that such testing would be costly.

For those manufacturers not required to test and certify side-hinged doors to all the requirements of the NAFS standards, yet demonstrate compliance with mandatory IBC, IRC, and Florida Building Code structural performance requirements, an AAMA interim third-party testing (per ASTM E 330 and optionally for impact testing per ASTM E 1886 and E 1986 or Miami-Dade Protocols TAS 201 and TAS 203), certification and labeling program has been available since 2004. The specific side-hinged door configuration tested qualifies only those configurations with the same corner construction, frame/insert assembly, hinges and hinge locations, locking/latching hardware and installation methods. Door leaves with glazing must be tested with the largest glazing area provided in the door system for which compliance is desired.

Since then, AAMA has developed guidelines for a component-based testing and certification program. As covered in the April Door Council News article (AAMA 111 Adds Door Component Qualification to Certification Procedures), AAMA 111-09, Procedure for Limited Component Substitution in AAMA-Certified Exterior Side-Hinged Doors, provides a procedure for limited substitution of components within a door assembly that has already been authorized for certification, called the “base system.” As noted in the article, this base system and its components must meet the requirements of the 101/I.S.2/A440 standard, which includes criteria for forced entry resistance, cycle/slam, vertical loading and force-to-latch. AAMA 111-09 is not a standard and therefore does not amend 101/I.S.2/A440 in any way. It is a certification program procedural document that essentially defines conditions under which a “Waiver of Retest” can be granted for the substitution of up to three defined components before the reconfigured base system must be re-tested. The menu of defined components is comprised of astragals, steel or composite door leaves, door leaves with wood stiles and rails, pre-hung door frames, weatherstrips and weather seals, hinges and single-point locks, sills and thresholds, glass assemblies and mullions.

At present, the requirements of the 2012 IRC and IBC have been determined and there are no door-related code change proposals still pending – except some that might be related to energy conservation and green construction. The next opportunity to add reference to AMD SHEDS or other standards will not be until the 2015 edition of the I-Codes, and the deadline to submit proposals for that will be in 2012.

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