Construction Supervisor License Practice Exam 2025 – All-in-One Study Guide for Exam Success!

In fire safety design, it is critical that automatic closing doors in fire-rated walls respond promptly to smoke detection to help prevent the spread of smoke and fire. The correct response time for these doors is crucial for ensuring the safety of occupants and maintaining the integrity of fire barriers.

The option stating that the doors must begin closing within ten seconds after the smoke detector is actuated aligns with established fire safety codes and standards. This time frame is designed to allow for a quick response while still accommodating a brief delay to ensure that any false alarms can be assessed, which may prevent unnecessary door closures and maintain egress pathways when there is no actual fire threat.

Other options such as 30 seconds or five seconds do not align with common fire safety requirements, as they either provide too much time, which could increase risk to life and property, or too little time to allow for proper evaluation of the alarm situation. Additionally, the notion that doors close at the time the detector is actuated does not capture the necessity of a specified delay that allows for the evaluation of the alarm's legitimacy, hence ensuring that automatic systems function effectively in real scenarios. This structured response time helps balance safety with practicality in emergency situations.