Tornado Door — impact-resistant hollow metal storm shelter door
Mesker labels this product "TORNADO FEMA 361" on its own S-2 submittal drawing and describes it on the product page as "tested and certified", but the submittal drawing that carries the FEMA 361 title block gives construction and hardware only: 16 gauge outer skin, 14 gauge inner skin on the impact face, 1 9/16 inch polystyrene core, 14 gauge channel welded at the door edges, flush top and bottom, prepared and reinforced for Securitech model 8440580, hardware by others, sheet dated March 2014. *** IT NAMES NO TEST LABORATORY, NO TEST REPORT NUMBER, NO CERTIFICATION NUMBER, AND NO ICC 500 COMPLIANCE STATEMENT. *** The two performance figures in this row (15-lb 2x4 at 100 mph; 1.75 psi for 5 seconds) come from the product page, not from the submittal drawing, and are recorded as manufacturer statements. The "correlates to a 250 mph tornado" phrasing is Mesker own and is recorded as a manufacturer correlation, not as a design wind speed. The product page also names a spacing of 14 gauge edge channel reinforcements at 2 inch on centre while the submittal drawing says the channel is welded 6 inch on centre at the door edges; BOTH ARE RECORDED AND NEITHER WAS SILENTLY RECONCILED.
Certifications & Standards
What was checked, and what is deliberately not claimed
- Fema Vs Icc500
- *** THE COMMERCIAL AND TECHNICAL FINDING ON THIS TARGET. Mesker documents its tornado door against FEMA 361. The building code, in IBC 2021 423.2 and IRC 2021 R323.1 (both held first-party), requires storm shelters to be constructed in accordance with ICC 500. A specifier or plan reviewer working a shelter opening is checking for ICC 500, and Mesker own documentation does not answer that question. No position is taken here on whether the door would pass ICC 500 — only that Mesker does not say, and that the gap is between the manufacturer document and the referenced standard the code adopts. Raised in the outreach letter as a finding, not as a sales line. ***
- Certified Without Identifier
- The product page says the polystyrene core is "tested and certified" and the submittal drawing is titled "TORNADO FEMA 361", yet no laboratory, report number or certification number appears on either. Requested in the outreach letter.