1 Watertight doors should be tested by water pressure
to a head of water measured from the lower edge of the door opening
to the bulkhead deck or the freeboard deck, or to the most unfavourable
final or intermediate waterplane during flooding, whichever is greater.
2 Large doors, hatches or ramps on passenger and
cargo ships, of a design and size that would make pressure testing
impracticable, may be exempted from regulation 16.2, provided it is
demonstrated by calculations that the doors, hatches or ramps maintain
watertightness at design pressure with a proper margin of resistance.
Where such doors utilize gasket seals, a prototype pressure test to
confirm that the compression of the gasket material is capable of
accommodating any deflection, revealed by the structural analysis,
should be carried out. After installation every such door, hatch or
ramp should be tested by means of a hose test or equivalent.
Note:
See Explanatory
Notes for regulation 13 for additional information regarding the treatment
of steps in the bulkhead deck of passenger ships. See Explanatory
Notes for regulation 13-1 for additional information regarding the
treatment of steps in the freeboard deck of cargo ships.