A touchless automatic door is a door that opens and closes automatically without any physical contact with either the door itself or an associated door opener. These doors are equipped with an opening sensor that, upon detecting movement, proximity, or hand gestures, sends a signal to the door to open. Many of these doors are also equipped with safety sensors that detect obstacles within the door’s movement area and stop or reverse the door’s motion to prevent injury to people or property damage.
The use of touchless door openers has increased significantly in recent years and has become especially popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they reduce the risk of contact transmission while simplifying daily routines for staff, such as in hospitals. Over time, concerns have arisen about whether touchless door sensors might also open doors when exposed to smoke, potentially compromising fire safety if doors in fire partitions fail to remain closed as intended during a fire or smoke development.
The main objective of the study has been to increase knowledge about how touchless door mechanisms behave during a fire. The following research questions were addressed:
1. Which technologies/sensors are used for touchless door mechanisms?
2. Do smoke from different fire sources affect the sensors to varying degrees?
3. Are the sensors affected by water from water-based extinguishing systems?
4. How can safety be ensured in existing buildings with such technology?
A large-scale test series was conducted in a room equivalent to a corridor, utilising smoke from three different sources and water from two types of extinguishing systems, to assess the impact of smoke and water on 18 different touchless sensors from eight suppliers.
In the tests performed, smoke caused false activation of seven out of eight sensors using IR technology, while none of the sensors using microwave or capacitive technology were falsely triggered by smoke. Water-based extinguishing systems posed greater challenges for the sensors: sprinkler discharge caused false activation across all tested sensor technologies, although not every individual sensor was triggered. High-pressure water mist also led to false activation of both microwave and IR sensors. Of the 18 touchless sensors installed, only three were confirmed not to be falsely activated in any of the tests. All of these were opening sensors: one using IR technology and two using microwave technology.
The report further discusses relevant fire safety regulations and the use of touchless sensors. The implications of the test findings for fire safety in buildings equipped with such sensors are also considered, as well as possible measures to prevent fire compartments from losing their function due to unintended door openings in fire partitions.
This study is funded by the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB), the Norwegian Building Authority (DiBK) and Statsbygg as part of the project portfolio under the research agreement between DSB and RISE Fire Research.
You may find the full report (pdf) in Norwegian with English summary here:
https://risefr.com/media/publikasjoner/upload/2026/riserapport2026-19-beroringsfrie-dorsensorer.pdf