How to Read a Door Schedule
The door schedule is the single reference document for every door on a project — consolidating sizes, materials, fire ratings, hardware sets, and special requirements into one table. Reading it correctly is essential for accurate procurement, avoiding reorders, and ensuring every door is installed with the right frame, finish, and function.
Step 1: Understand Door Marks
Every door on the floor plan carries a unique tag — the door mark — that links it to a row in the schedule. The numbering convention varies by firm and project, but understanding the system used on your drawings is the first step to reading the schedule efficiently.
Room-Based Marks
101, 102, 103…
The door mark matches the room number it serves. Door 101 leads into Room 101. This approach is intuitive but can create confusion when a room has more than one entrance, since each door still needs a distinct identifier.
Room + Letter Marks
101A, 101B, 101C…
When a room has multiple doors, a letter suffix distinguishes each one. Door 101A might be the main entry and 101B a secondary exit. The suffix is typically assigned clockwise starting from the primary entrance.
Sequential Marks
D-01, D-02, D-03…
A project-wide numbering sequence independent of room numbers. Each door gets the next available number regardless of its location. This system avoids room-number conflicts but makes it harder to locate a door on the plan without the schedule cross-reference.
Step 2: Read Door Dimensions
Door sizes in the schedule use a compact four-digit shorthand. The first two digits represent width in feet and inches, and the last two digits represent height in feet and inches. Misreading these numbers is one of the most frequent ordering errors on construction projects.
3070
3’-0″ × 7’-0″
The standard commercial door size. Three feet wide by seven feet tall. This is the most common dimension for interior office doors, corridor doors, and restroom entries in commercial buildings.
3080
3’-0″ × 8’-0″
Same width as 3070 but one foot taller. Used in spaces with higher ceilings — lobbies, conference rooms, and corridors where the taller door proportion matches the room scale.
With Thickness
1-3/4″ Standard
Door thickness is typically listed in a separate column. The standard commercial interior door is 1-3/4 inches thick. Fire-rated doors may be thicker to accommodate the additional core material required for their rating.
Pair Format
PR 6070
Double doors are indicated with a “PR” prefix. PR 6070 means a pair of leaves with a combined width of 6 feet 0 inches (each leaf is 3 feet) and a height of 7 feet 0 inches. Unequal pairs will note each leaf width separately.
Step 3: Door and Frame Types
The door schedule specifies both the door leaf material and the frame material using standard abbreviations. Getting these wrong means ordering a wood door for a hollow metal frame — or worse, a non-rated assembly in a fire wall.
Door Leaf Types
WD — Wood
Solid core or hollow core wood doors. Solid core is standard for commercial interiors and can achieve fire ratings up to 90 minutes with the proper core composition. Hollow core is limited to non-rated residential or light-use applications.
HM — Hollow Metal
Steel doors formed from sheet metal with an insulated core. The most durable and fire-resistant option, commonly used for stairwells, mechanical rooms, and exterior service entries. Available in fire ratings up to 3 hours.
AL — Aluminum
Aluminum-framed doors with glass panels, typical for storefront entries, vestibules, and lobby entrances. Lightweight and corrosion-resistant but generally not available with high fire ratings.
GL — Glass
Full-glass or frameless glass doors used in high-end lobbies, conference rooms, and retail spaces. Tempered or laminated safety glass is required. Fire-rated glass doors exist but are expensive and limited in size.
FRP — Fiberglass
Fiberglass reinforced polyester doors built for high-moisture and corrosive environments — pools, kitchens, laboratories, and chemical storage. They resist rust, rot, and delamination in conditions where wood and steel would degrade.
Frame Types
HMF — Hollow Metal Frame
The most common commercial frame. Formed from steel sheet metal and available in welded or knock-down configurations. Required for all fire-rated openings and commonly used even for non-rated doors in commercial construction.
WDF — Wood Frame
Solid wood or veneered frames found in residential projects and high-end commercial interiors. They provide a warmer aesthetic but are limited in fire-rating capability compared to hollow metal.
ALF — Aluminum Frame
Aluminum frames paired with aluminum or glass doors in storefront and curtain wall systems. Factory-finished with anodized or painted coatings. Used primarily at building entrances and interior glass partitions.
KD — Knock-Down
A hollow metal frame shipped in three pieces (two jambs and a head) and assembled on site. KD frames are installed after the wall is built, making them ideal for retrofit and renovation work where the wall is already in place.
WG — Welded
A one-piece welded hollow metal frame set into the wall during construction. Stronger and more rigid than knock-down frames, welded frames are the standard for fire-rated openings and high-traffic commercial applications.
Step 4: Check Fire Ratings
Fire-rated doors are life-safety components. The rating is expressed in minutes and must match the wall assembly the door is installed in. A missing or incorrect fire rating is one of the most consequential errors in a door schedule — it can fail inspection, delay occupancy, and create liability.
20-Minute Rating
Corridor Doors
The minimum rating typically required for doors opening onto corridors in certain occupancy types. A 20-minute door can include a vision panel without a separate fire-rated glazing requirement in some code interpretations.
45-Minute Rating
1-Hour Walls
The standard door rating for openings in 1-hour fire-rated wall assemblies. The door rating is always less than the wall rating because the door is a protected opening, not a continuous fire barrier.
60-Minute Rating
Enhanced Protection
Used in specific code conditions where a higher-than-standard rating is required for 1-hour walls, often in stairwell enclosures of buildings under four stories or in certain hazardous occupancies.
90-Minute Rating
2-Hour Walls
Required in 2-hour fire-rated walls, which are common in stairwell enclosures, shaft walls, and separations between different occupancy types. These doors are typically hollow metal with mineral core and must have fire-rated hardware.
3-Hour Rating
High-Hazard / Fire Walls
The highest door fire rating, used in openings within fire walls (not fire barriers) that separate buildings or high-hazard areas. These are heavy-gauge hollow metal doors with specialized hardware and are relatively rare in standard commercial work.
Step 5: Decode Hardware Sets
The door schedule assigns a hardware set number to each door, and the full specification for each set lives in the hardware section of the project manual (Division 08). Each set groups together all of the hardware components — hinges, locks, closers, stops, and accessories — for a particular door function.
HW-1 — Passage
A lever or knob that operates freely from both sides with no locking function. Used for general interior doors where access control is not needed — common in open office areas and between interconnected rooms.
HW-2 — Privacy
A lockset with a thumbturn or push-button on the interior side and an emergency release on the exterior. Standard for restrooms, lactation rooms, and single-occupant spaces where temporary privacy is needed.
HW-3 — Classroom
The exterior lever is locked and unlocked by a key; the interior lever is always free to exit. This function allows a teacher or staff member to lock the door from the corridor side without entering the room — critical for lockdown scenarios.
HW-4 — Storeroom
The exterior side is always locked and requires a key to enter. The interior side is always free for egress. Used for storage rooms, electrical rooms, and mechanical spaces where unauthorized access must be prevented at all times.
HW-5+ — Specialty
Higher-numbered sets cover specialized functions — panic hardware for exit doors, electromagnetic hold-opens tied to the fire alarm, delayed-egress devices for security areas, and access control with card readers or keypads. Always check the full hardware specification for the complete component list.
Step 6: Note Special Requirements
Beyond the standard columns for size, material, and hardware, most door schedules include a remarks or special requirements column. These notes capture conditions that affect fabrication, installation, or code compliance and are easily overlooked during a quick review.
Vision Panels
A glass lite or window in the door leaf. The schedule specifies the size, location (centered, offset, narrow), and glass type. In fire-rated doors, the vision panel must use fire-rated glazing and the total glass area is limited by code.
Louvers
Louvered panels in the door leaf allow airflow for ventilation — common in mechanical rooms, electrical closets, and janitor’s closets. The schedule notes the louver size and free area. Fire-rated doors with louvers require fusible-link louvers that close automatically during a fire.
Acoustic Ratings
Sound Transmission Class (STC) ratings are specified for doors separating noise-sensitive spaces — conference rooms, offices adjacent to mechanical rooms, or patient rooms in healthcare facilities. Acoustic-rated doors require gasketing on all four edges and a threshold seal.
Lead Lining
Doors in X-ray rooms, CT scan suites, and other radiology spaces require lead-lined cores. The schedule specifies the lead thickness in millimeters, and the frame must also have lead lining to maintain shielding continuity.
Weatherstripping & Thresholds
Exterior doors and doors separating conditioned from unconditioned spaces need weatherstripping and thresholds to control air infiltration, water penetration, and energy loss. The schedule identifies the threshold type (saddle, offset, thermal break) and gasket material.
Automatic Operators
Power-operated doors for ADA-accessible entries, high-traffic corridors, and hospital patient areas. The schedule notes the operator type (low-energy, full-energy, or electro-hydraulic) and activation method (push plate, motion sensor, or card reader).
Step 7: Verify Against Floor Plans
A door schedule is only as reliable as its coordination with the floor plans. The final step in reading any door schedule is a systematic cross-check to confirm that every tag on the plan has a matching schedule entry — and vice versa.
Every Plan Tag in Schedule
Walk through the floor plan and confirm that every door mark tag has a corresponding row in the schedule. Missing entries mean a door will be ordered without any specification — or not ordered at all.
Every Schedule Entry on Plan
Conversely, every row in the schedule should correspond to a door tag on the plan. Orphaned schedule entries indicate a door that was deleted from the plan but never removed from the schedule — leading to unnecessary procurement.
Swing Direction Matches
The floor plan shows the door swing arc. Verify that the hand (left or right) and swing direction (in or out) match what the schedule indicates. An incorrect hand means the hardware is mounted on the wrong side, which affects both function and code compliance.
Widths Fit Openings
Scale the door opening on the plan and compare it to the width listed in the schedule. A 3070 door in the schedule needs a rough opening sized for a 3-foot door plus the frame profile. If the wall opening is too narrow or too wide, something is miscoordinated.
Fire-Rated in Fire Walls
Cross-reference the life safety plan to confirm that every door in a fire-rated wall has the correct rating in the schedule. A non-rated door in a rated wall is a code violation that will be caught during inspection and can delay certificate of occupancy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a door mark and how is it assigned?
A door mark is a unique identifier assigned to each door on a project. It links the door tag shown on the floor plan to its full specification in the schedule. Common numbering conventions include room-based marks (e.g., 101, 102 matching the room the door serves), room-plus-letter marks (e.g., 101A, 101B when a room has multiple doors), and sequential marks (e.g., D-01, D-02) that follow a project-wide numbering sequence regardless of room number.
What does a door size like 3070 mean?
The four-digit shorthand represents the door width and height. The first two digits indicate width in feet and inches, and the last two digits indicate height in feet and inches. So 3070 means 3 feet 0 inches wide by 7 feet 0 inches tall. Similarly, 3080 means 3 feet 0 inches wide by 8 feet 0 inches tall. For double doors, the format changes — PR 6070 means a pair of doors with a combined width of 6 feet 0 inches and a height of 7 feet 0 inches.
How do I know if a door needs a fire rating?
The door schedule lists the fire rating in a dedicated column, typically expressed in minutes (20, 45, 60, 90, or 180). A door requires a fire rating when it is installed in a fire-rated wall or barrier. The rating of the door assembly must match the wall rating per building code — for example, a 1-hour rated wall generally requires a 45-minute rated door, and a 2-hour rated wall requires a 90-minute rated door. Always verify against the life safety plan.
What is a hardware set and where do I find the details?
A hardware set is a numbered group of door hardware items — hinges, locksets, closers, stops, and other accessories — that are specified together as a package. The door schedule references the hardware set by number (e.g., HW-1, HW-2), and the full itemized list for each set is found in the hardware specification section, typically Division 08 of the project specifications. Each set defines the function (passage, privacy, classroom, storeroom) and all individual components required.
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