As fire safety experts, we keep ourselves up to date with current fire door requirements, promptly sharing our information with our readers and clients.
Here is a summary of key points, taken from articles we’ve published this year. We’ve also included links to the original articles, for the sake of further reading.
The Basics
Original Article Link: Fire Door Requirements – What You Need to Know
It’s a legal requirement for those responsible for multi-occupied residential buildings of over 11 metres in height to:
- undertake quarterly checks of all communal fire doors (including self-closing devices) in common parts of the building
- undertake (on a best endeavor basis) annual checks of all flat entrance doors, including self-closing devices, that lead onto the building’s common parts
The regulations also require property managers to “provide to residents of all multi-occupied residential buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises (that have common parts) information on the importance of fire doors to a building’s fire safety.”
For the sake of peace of mind for you and your residents, as well as saving you time, we would recommend asking a specialist to carry out your quarterly and annual checks. A specialist will know exactly what to look for, and their input will speed up any remedial works deemed necessary.
Fire Doors in Student Accommodation
Original Article Link: Fire Door Safety in Student Accommodation – What You Need to Know to Stay Compliant
For many students, the best option for affordable housing during their studies is a house share. For property managers, this often means managing Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).
A house is considered a House in Multiple Occupation if at least three tenants live there forming more than one household and they share toilet, bathroom, or kitchen facilities with other tenants.
Creating a safe environment for multiple residents in a purpose-built block of flats can be tricky enough, but HMOs bring their own set of challenges. Ensuring tenant safety in these properties requires a focus on fire door compliance. Fire doors are what will slow the spread of fire and smoke where compartmentation isn’t always possible.
Fires are common in student accommodation due to several factors:
- Multiple households bring multiple electronic devices and cooking equipment under one roof.
- Kitchens are used more frequently.
- Students often have multiple devices and try to charge them all from solitary sockets in their rooms, overloading the system.
Fire doors are the only practical way to compartmentalise a standard house. They provide the fire suppression needed to allow evacuation, provide emergency services with time to respond, and to minimise the damage caused by the fire.
When it comes to fire doors specifically, current regulations require the “responsible person” (usually the landlord or managing agent) to make sure that:
- Fire doors are fitted with functioning self-closing devices.
- Tenants are aware that the doors should be closed at all times and not propped open.
- Tenants are aware that the self-closing devices are not to be tampered with.
- Tenants understand it is their duty to inform the responsible person about any issues.
- Tenants know how to report any issues with the self-closing devices or doors in general.
Regular visual inspections and maintenance are key. Responsible persons should check that the doors close automatically as they should, are not damaged, and that all the seals, hinges and latches are in good condition.
It’s highly recommended that a fire door inspection is included in your usual fire risk assessment so that your professional inspector can confirm your compliance.
Direct From the Experts
Original Article Link: Understanding Fire Door Safety and Compliance
Our Head of Field Operations, James Purdey, shared his expertise on this critical topic during a webinar for The Property Institute in November 2024.
James covered the legalities surrounding fire doors, as well as many other facets of fire door compliance:
Current regulations span across three acts and orders from 2005 to 2022. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 lays out who is responsible for the fire doors in a given property.
The Order states that building operators in England and Wales should appoint a ‘Responsible Person’ to manage all fire safety precautions – including fire doors. This person might be the employer, the managing agent or owner or another appointed person. Their legal responsibilities include a duty to reduce the risk of fire spreading within the premises – fire doors play an important part in reducing this risk. The responsible person must ensure that a suitable system of maintenance is in place, and that the doors are kept in efficient working order.
The Order applies to all properties except the inside of private homes. It covers public buildings, places of employment, entertainment and leisure venues as well as vehicles, tents or other moveable structures.
The Fire Safety Act 2021 clarifies the scope of the Fire Safety Order to make clear it applies to the structure, external walls (including cladding and balconies) and individual flat entrance doors between domestic premises, as well as the common parts of a multi-occupied residential building. The Responsible Person must consider these parts when conducting fire risk assessments.
The requirements of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 come in addition to the above. The regulations introduced explicit, additional requirements for specific buildings, based on height and the number of dwellings:
- Any and all residential buildings with more than 2 dwellings and with common areas: Responsible Persons should provide all residents with information about the importance of fire doors.
- Residential buildings of over 11 metres but under 18 metres in height: As well as providing residents with fire door information, Responsible Persons must check communal fire doors quarterly, and residents’ doors annually.
- Residential buildings of 18 metres (or 7 storeys) or more: In addition to the requirements for buildings of smaller stature, Responsible Persons must provide a secure information box containing plans of the building, provide wayfinding signage including floor numbers, maintain an enhanced regime of checks on fire lifts and other key equipment, and have a full identification and evaluation of external wall systems.
