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A suitable system of maintenance is required by the legislation, your FRA should determine the frequency. The Government never intended the cash cow of every inspection being a full in depth check - this is detailed in the guidance to the Fire Safety (England) Regulations. Usually where the doorset has been established by specialist inspection to be fully compliant the wear & tear checks can follow the style of the FS(E)Checklist and can be done in house although some basic training is recommended. Professional checks would still be of use if there have been any alterations or changes, any issues found on the in house checks where 'seek professional advice' is the result and every few years as a backstop

Fire doors are seen as a cash cow and many smaller blocks are suffering from unnecessary burdens to the lease/common holders due to incorrect advice on doors that does not follow Government guidance. In many of these blocks the original fire doors remain suitable as long as in good order and the only critical issues are related to doors not self closing properly/at all or doors replaced by non fire rated doors.

Sounds like you may need to use a professional risk assessor if you aren't sure - but in essence travel distances and exit capacities are different issues. If you have two or more exits (that meet the 45 degree rule or are separated by fire resisting construction) you can use the Travel distances listed for more than one direction of escape (but be aware that initial dead ends where you can only go one way must meet the single distance up to the point that routes diverge). Then you need to ensure the number and width of exits is enough for the occupancy - you always discount the widest exit for this just in case the fire blocks access. The extract in the above reply is fro Approved Document B, a design guide under the Building Regulations for new premises - existing ones should use this - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-risk-assessment-offices-and-shops Useful extracts:

Probably not, but try bat wings they are far more robust

Because the accommodation is not a dwelling and comes under Residential (other) 2(b) Hotel, boarding house, residential college, hall of residence, hostel or any other residential purpose not described above. the bedroom corridors are categorised as protected corridor and all doors (except wet rooms) should be a minimum of FD30S. The doors should have a competent inspection every 6 months

The discounting of a final exit is all about the capacity of the building, how many people can I fit through the doors. This has nothing to do travel distances.

Hi, I was wondering if you have a certified FD30 fire door and replace the intumescent strips with combined intumescent smoke strips (essentially upgrading the fire door to a smoke door), does this negate the certification of the door or does it simply become a certified FD30S door?

Hi Everyone, Reading through the various different legislation, and have become stumped. We have student housing - over 11 metres in height, whereby a Flat Door then has a cluster of 4 separate bedrooms inside. Currently, each individual bedroom door is being checked annually by a Fire Door professional in addition to the Flat Entrance Door and Communal doors. My query is - do the internal bedroom doors really need a professional annual check or can these just form part of the checks maintenance staff? The cost is becoming quite significant Thanks in advance,

Hi , I'm after some advice - with completing a fire risk assessment for a medium sized high street retail unit , with private residents above ( not our demise.) We have one main entrance/ exit door & one fire exit to the rear. I've been advised to discount the main entrance / exit for travel distance calculations - meaning we now technically have one fire exit , and thus single direction . Is this correct , or do we calculate travel distances with all doors included ? Thanks

Possibly, but without seeing it for myself I can't be definitive.

Thank you for the response and I will do as you suggest. I did appear odd that a new requirement could suddenly make a large percentage of the doors on the market no longer fit for purpose. I also found it interesting when perusing the fire safety section on the government's Leasehold Advisory Service website that the following appeared: Fire risk assessment of your front door The fire safety risk assessor may recommend that your front door is upgraded or replaced to ensure it remains adequate to resist the spread of smoke or fire. But you do not have to replace a fire door simply because it does not meet the current safety standards, if the door remains in full working order and fit for purpose, from a fire safety point of view. I say I found it interesting as the text accompanying the notification that changes needed to be made to our fire doors was laced with threats of fines, jail time etc. It appears that the rules are nebulous to say the least.

Thank you Anthony for that valuable information and referral to the guide. I would presume that fire doors are definitely required for the 2 gf flats despite their not opening direct to the stairs? They open to the gf lobby area with the stairs off that. Many thanks, again. The four flat owners are the freeholders and we manage the block ourselves

I think the 60 person rule is somewhat a back of a fag packet calculation designed to prevent small premises like shops with only front access to the street and single inward opening doors from falling foul of the fundamental desire to be able to turn your back to a fire and use an alternative means of escape. It is not a rule cast in stone and should be used with care. Consider a pub with inward opening doors and a floor space of 30m2. Pack the pub to the full capacity of 2 persons per m2 giving a total of 60 persons. Folk could neither get in nor out. I suppose equally, if your pub had 3 inward opening doors and a floor area of 600m2, you might be inclined to conclude that discounting one door and allowing 60 each for the remaining exits, a total of 120 persons might be safe. However, often floor space factors will guide licensing authorities. A floor space of 600m2 in a pub would calculate to 1200 persons for a public bar and 600 for a lounge so exit capacity to meet that occupancy would be required and I believe that to be the right approach. I do not think one can extrapolate the 60 person rule and I am 100% with AnthonyB on this one.

You (well the block freeholder or commoners) are legally required to have a fire risk assessment which will address this. Fire doors will be required to the front doors of flats opening into the single internal shared stair, however if these are the original flat fire doors and ironmongery and in good working order they will not need replacement - usually the main fault with these is no self closer or one that doesn't work fully (usually as it's a single chain closer) and this can be replaced with a modern EN1154 closer to overcome this. If a door has been changed from the original fire door and is no longer a fire door then this would need replacement. Internal doors within flats are not covered by the legislation affecting the block. For your block only one guide applies & that is here- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-your-small-block-of-flats-safe-from-fire

Fire Safety Act 2021 Fire Safety Act 2021 factsheet: Information on commencement of sections 1 and 3 of the Fire Safety Act - GOV.UK Fire risk assessments A fire risk assessment is required by the Fire Safety Order to assess fire safety risks relevant to both workplaces and buildings with 2 or more sets of domestic premises. It is the duty of the responsible person to ensure that this is carried out, although they may appoint someone on their behalf, such as a competent fire risk assessor, to carry it out. So I think that you would need one

I live in small purpose built (60’s) block of flats - 2 gf + 2 x 1st floor. Entrance lobby/porch with two flat doors off, then single stairway to 1st floor with two flat doors off small landing. Height of 1st floor flats under 11m. Have read guides but confused whether all flats or only some, or none, need fire doors. G/f flats also have garden doors and one upper flat has balcony for escape purposes. Cannot see specifically where it says fire doors are definitely required! Currently, no fire doors.

I live in a flat below street level with my own front door. I have mobility issues and I asked my housing association if there was a fire risk assessment. I was told it was not required. I don’t think this is correct as I am 1 of 18 flats of which 9 are below street level all with elderly with mobility issues. The safest exit is through the patio door to a communal garden that is not lit at all. Should I insist on a fire risk assessment to be carried out?

Much appreciated Anthony.

Firstly it's up to 4mm usually and there has been no change in building regulations affecting flat front doors and in any case the Building Regulations do not retrospectively apply to existing buildings unless being altered. Official guidance for front doors in flats allows varying standards of door dependant on the size and layout of the block - there is a fair chance no doors need replacing.

Discounting the widest if there is any slight chance you are going to have over 60 persons going through a doorway it needs to open outwards. Panicking public, especially if intoxicated will head en masse to the exit they came in and history is littered with the bodies of the hundreds who have crushed up and died against inward opening doors

Usually, yes unless secured in the open position at material times, especially as most guests will go back out that way even if they pass a fire exit on the way.

Put the spare wire in a wago connector (or similar) or a single "choc bloc" Do NOT wrap it in insulation tape because as time goes by the tape will become detached.

Make and model of the smoke alarm, has it happened since you initially asked? Is the red light flashing? If so, how often?

You are correct, there are many modern panel effect timber-based fire doors with FD30 fire resistance performance certification. Even though when measured at the thinnest point, its much less than 44mm. I would advise you to question your fire door inspector on this matter.

Many thanks