Fire doors are an important element of your fire safety strategy. Used correctly, they slow the spread of fire through a building, buying the time needed for people to escape unharmed and for fire and rescue services to attend, potentially saving your premises
Our Head of Field Operations, James Purdey, shared his expertise on this critical topic during a webinar for The Property Institute in November 2024. Read on to enhance your understanding of current regulations, the importance of fire doors, and what to look for when inspecting the doors in your property.
A Little About James
James has been with us for 8 years and is a highly skilled risk assessor. An expert in health, fire & safety, asbestos, and legionella, he’s also a member of the Institute of Fire Safety Managers (MIFSM) and holds a Technician Grade (TIFireE) from the Institute of Fire Engineers.
James has delivered multiple technical talks, webinars, and podcast episodes over the years, and of course looks after our clients and their properties as if they were his own.
Why Effective Fire Doors Are Vital
Fire doors form part of a building’s passive fire protection system. They are designed to contain fire in one part of the building, to limit damage and to protect escape routes. This is what we refer to as “compartmentation”. The building is effectively split into compartments that can contain fire for a certain period of time.
Built to hold back fire and smoke for an average of 30 minutes, fire doors can delay spread to an impactful extent, allowing people more time to evacuate and for emergency responders to arrive on scene. They are normally required for all doorways leading to escape routes and usually for all rooms that present a higher risk of fire, such as kitchens.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
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
The Fire Safety Act 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.
Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022
The requirements of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 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.
Types of Fire Doors
There are two main types of fire door: Notional and Nominal. Notional is a fire door that satisfied the standards of the fire regulations at the time of construction and can still be effective if well-maintained, though they may lack modern features like intumescent strips.
Nominal fire doors, on the other hand, are built to provide fire protection but haven’t been formally tested. These doors are made from solid timber and require proper installation, hardwood lipping and intumescent seals to ensure safety.
Key Components of Effective Fire Doors
When carrying out your quarterly or annual inspections, all of the below should be inspected for damage or alteration, with all findings kept in a written record:
Labelling
Look for a certification label or coloured plug that is usually located on the top edge of the door. Labels should detail the fire rating (e.g. FD30, meaning the door will withstand fire for 30 mins), the manufacturer’s details and confirmation of compliance with British Standards.
Some doors will have a coloured plug instead- this is a system used by the British Woodworking Federation for identifying fire-resisting door leaves.
Gaps
Check the gaps around the top and sides of the door are consistently less than 4mm when the door’s closed. The gap under the door can be slightly larger (up to 8mm), but it does depend on the door. Ideally, you should not see light under the door.
Hinges
A poorly fitted fire door or unfit hinge may not stop the spread of smoke or fire. Fire doors will have at least 3 hinges with a melting point above 800 degrees centigrade. Newer doors should have a marking on the hinge to ascertain the fire rating. Ensure all screws are fitted in the hinge.
Self-Closing Devices
Fire doors should always have a working door closer. Check that the closer is not damaged and that it shuts and latches the door from any position. This ensures that the intumescent seals can function correctly to prevent the spread of fire.
Intumescent Strips and Cold Smoke Seals
Intumescent strips and cold smoke seals should be fitted around the door or frame and must be in good condition.
Letterboxes
Letterboxes are firmly closed and not jammed open. Where a letterbox has been fitted to a door that did not previously have one,the resident will need to confirm that the new letterbox is suitable for use in fire-resisting doors and has been fitted by a specialist contractor.
Glazing
Ensure that the condition of the fire-resisting glass and glazing system in the door panels, and any associated side or over panels forming part of the doorset, retain their ability to resist the spread of fire and smoke.
Signage
All communal fire doors should have clear signage fitted. The type of sign will depend on any fire door holders or free-swing fire door closers being fitted to your door. On a standard door ‘Fire Door, Keep Shut’ sign or similar should be fixed. On fire doors that are approached from two sides, it’s important that a sign is fitted to both sides of the door.
Suggested Resources
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022
British Woodworking Federation
Further Reading from 4site:
Fire Door Requirements – What You Need to Know
Ask The Expert – Your FAQs on Fire Safety
