The Grenfell disaster was the wake-up call of all wake-up calls in regard to fire door safety.
If you’re a private landlord or managing agent, this incident has no doubt prompted you to do your research to ensure your building doesn’t suffer the same fate.
The Phase 1 report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry noted that the fire doors in Grenfell Tower did not act as they should have to prevent the spread of smoke and gases.
It stated, ‘Fire doors play an essential role in preventing or inhibiting the spread of smoke and toxic gases and in preserving the effective compartmentation of buildings.’
In other words, properly installed and maintained fire doors:
- Offer life-saving containment of fire and smoke.
- Give residents the time to exit the building safely.
- Allow emergency services time to arrive on the scene to put out the blaze.
- Save you from hefty fines and, potentially, criminal charges.
In this article, we’ll outline the specific regulations around the use, installation, and maintenance of fire doors in blocks of flats in the UK.
Let’s start by answering the question at hand.
What are the fire door regulations for flats?
There are several key regulations you need to be aware of.
FD30 and FD60 doors
Entrances to communal areas such as hallways must be protected by an FD30 fire door — that is, a door that’s able to withstand the spread of fire and smoke for up to 30 minutes.
Some communal areas within your building will require more than one fire door, and new fire doors should offer at least 30 minutes of fire protection as a legal minimum requirement.
There are also FD60 fire doors which — you guessed it — can prevent the spread of fire for up to 60 minutes.
FD60 doors are especially crucial in high-rise blocks of flats, i.e., buildings that contain at least seven floors or are at least 18 metres in height. The simple reason for this is these types of buildings take longer to evacuate in the event of a fire.
If we think back to the Grenfell disaster — how many lives could have been saved if its residents had this length of escape window?
Fire door safety checks
If you’re the landlord, managing agent, or building owner of a multi-occupied block of flats over 11m in height in England, you’re a ‘responsible person’. As such, you’re legally obliged to do the following under The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 (effective from 23 January 2023):
- Undertake quarterly checks of all fire doors (including self-closing devices) in the common parts.
- Undertake – on a best endeavour basis – annual checks of all flat entrance doors (including self-closing devices) that lead onto a building’s common parts.
These checks will ensure that the self-closing devices in your fire doors are working and in efficient working order.
What are the minimum requirements for fire doors?
As well as meeting the fire resistance ratings we outlined above, fire doors must:
- Be fitted with a self-closing device that enables them to close automatically after opening.
- Be constructed of materials that can withstand heat and resist fire for the duration of their rated period, such as steel, metal, gypsum, timber, and aluminium.
- Contain intumescent strips around the frame to prevent the passage of fire and smoke. An intumescent strip is a piece of fire-resistant material which is fitted around the frame of a door and expands in the event of a fire to prevent it from spreading.
- Not contain gaps of more than 4mm between door and frame. Ideally, the gap should be 3mm, or approximately the width of a £1 coin. Fire doors are designed to expand slightly in the event of a fire and if the gap is less than 2mm, the door may expand too much to close properly. Conversely, a gap of more than 4mm could compromise the door’s ability to protect your residents as the expanded strips won’t provide enough of a seal, allowing smoke and fire to pass through more easily.
Providing information to residents
You also need to provide your residents with information on the importance of fire doors to a building’s fire safety.
Displaying this information in the communal area(s) of your building will have several benefits to you. Firstly, it’ll educate your residents on the above and enable them to work with each other to keep your building safe if a fire occurs. It’s also more likely to lead to cooperation with fire safety rules — for instance, by not propping fire doors open or failing to report damaged doors.
Now you’re up to speed with the fire door regulations for UK flats, here are a few final bits you need to know about — and some tips on what to do next.
What are the consequences of non-compliance with fire door regulations?
This sentence should go without saying, but failing to comply with the above regulations could have serious consequences if your building catches fire.
Not only is there the obvious risk of your residents suffering serious injuries or loss of life, there’s the risk of you incurring hefty fines and being liable for criminal charges, as we stated in the introduction.
The average — ‘average’ being the operative word — financial penalty for not following fire safety regulations post-Grenfell is £27,519. You don’t need us to point out this is a significant sum of money.
There are multiple instances of landlords being fined between £40,000 and £70,000 and, in some cases, receiving prison sentences, for either not having fire doors in their building or not ensuring their building’s fire doors were in a safe state of repair.
However, as we’ve already stipulated in this article, although you have a responsibility to conduct checks of fire doors in your building, the onus for being compliant with fire door regulations does not lie solely with you.
Fire door survey specialists such as ourselves can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you.
Detailed fire door inspections from North West Fire Solutions
You’ll remain fully compliant with the law and avoid the same pitfalls as the aforementioned landlords with our regular inspections.
Following these inspections, we will provide a detailed report on the condition, function, and durability of all fire doors within your block of flats.
All of our door surveyors are fully trained and experienced in fire safety in all types of premises and will identify instances where the fire resistance of your fire doors has been compromised.
Any recommendations they make will allow you to carry out remedial works to reduce liability and overall risk.
To arrange for an inspection at your property, reach out to us on 0151 665 0124 or email info@nwsolutions.co.uk.