Neil ashdown

Best to contact your local Building Control office for advice. My experience, having received different comments from different LBC offices.

The lock keep should be tightly morticed into the door frame stile or secondary door leaf so that there are no gaps or voids. Intumescent gasket material is usually required for FD60 doors and sometimes for FD30, the door data sheet should provide the necessary information.

As you say, the requirement for this type of house is that the staircase must be protected to facilitate safe use in a fire. The existing doors, as described, should be suitable for this purpose and the proposed alterations should maintain that level of protection. Building Control may require evidence that the alterations do indeed maintain the required level of fire protection.

This FPA article (see link below) including the link to UK Gov guidance may be of interest, underlining several previous comments in this thread: https://www.thefpa.co.uk/news/government-issues-update-to-fire-door-guidance-

The lock keep should be tightly morticed into the door frame stile or secondary door leaf so that there are no gaps or voids. Intumescent gasket material is usually required for FD60 doors and sometimes for FD30, the door data sheet should provide the necessary information.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67d17064a005e6f9841a1d50/Approved_Document_B_volume_2_Buildings_other_than_Dwellings_2019_edition_incorporating_2020_2022_and_2025_amendments_collated_with_2026_and_2029_amendments.pdf Appendix C Fire Doorsets C11: Fire Door Signs. Complying with BS 5499-5. All fire doorsets should be marked on both sides, except fire doorsets to cupboards and service ducts, which should be marked on the outside. https://www.firecode.org.uk/Code_of_Practice_hardware_for_fire_and_escape_doors_issue_5.pdf Fire Safety Signs page 104 to 112.

You could search for a local fire door inspector at https://afdi.org.uk/category/find-a-fire-door-inspector/ and https://fdis.co.uk/approved-fdis-inspector/

It would very likely be possible to upgrade the fire resistance and smoke spread restriction of your flat entrance door but the term FD30(s) can only refer to either a door with product certification (which yours probably doesn't have) or a door that has been inspected/assessed by a suitably competent person as a Notional FD30(s) or Nominal FD30(s) door. Before you decide on any action, it would be worth consulting the UK Gov guidance whilst considering the location of the door in the block, fire evacuation strategy and potential risk from fire to the occupier(s) of the flat and other residents at the block. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-your-small-block-of-flats-safe-from-fire/a-guide-to-making-your-small-block-of-flats-safe-from-fire-accessible and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-in-purpose-built-blocks-of-flats

Make some intrusive surveys of a sample percentage of the 40 doors. If the cores are the same as fire doors, it may be possible to retain them and upgrade as necessary. "NFR" on a sticker on top of the door doesn't mean the core is unsuitable, it may be the same core as the fire doors.

https://www.lorientuk.com/products/architectural-seals

Generally, the maximum threshold gap for a fire resisting door is 10mm. For a door that is required to restrict the spread of cold smoke its 3mm. 3mm is often difficult to acheive due to imperfect floor conditions, so a 10mm gap is acceptable so long as its sealed with a flexible seal. Ref. BS 8214: 2016 Timber-based Fire Door Assemblies Code of Practice. UK Gov fire door safety guidance reconises this difficulty. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/677fbe166f01ae28ab5c0554/A+guide+to+making+your+small+block+of+flats+safe+from+fire+2024.pdf Page 18

As Mike says, the managaing agent may have had some sort of survey or inspection including the flat entrance doors. So they should be able to provide details about why the doors are non-compliant and why they should be replaced. If they have defects, why can't these be remediated instead of replaced?

Bryony at https://www.ironout.co.uk/ can help

Samual Heath at https://concealeddoorclosers.com/powermatic-r100-concealed-door-closer/ New Star at https://www.new-star.co.uk/products/agb-eclipse-self-concealed-hinge-with-door-closer?_pos=1&_psq=self-closer&_ss=e&_v=1.0 Contact them and the door manufacturer to check suitability for your type of door, fire rating and end use.

Fire resistance performance test evidence does exist for some night latches. But compliance also depends of the core-type for the timber-based fire door in question. An experienced fire door inspector should be able to assist you. Failing that, an experienced fire risk assessor may be able to help.

If that's the only reason why the latest inspection has found the door to be unsuitable, the inspector would need to back up their finding with the relevant documentation.

If the installer says the door is non-compliant due to the thickness being 42mm or 43mm (rather than 44mm) and requires replacement, they should back that up with the relevant documentation (guidance/certification/product data sheet etc). If they can't, then what basis do they have for making that recommendation?

So, has the Installer said why the door needs to be replaced? At residential blocks below 11m in height, there's no statutory requirement to inspect fire doors to a particular schedule but there is (under Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order 2005) a legal obligation, as you would expect, to ensure fire doors "are subject to a suitable system of maintenance and are maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair". See https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1541/article/17

End to end butt jointing of intumescent seals is acceptable if done tightly and well fitted. But don't mix different types. This website is worth visiting https://www.ifsa.org.uk/

The thickness of the door depends on the relevant certification / evidence of fire performance for the door. Also see Also see https://www.howdens.com/joinery/doors/howdens-spey-35mm-plywood-flush-fd30-fire-door-obj-sku-family-25409973 Refer to the relevant UK Gov fire safety guidance for the type of resirential block inn question eg: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-in-purpose-built-blocks-of-flats https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-your-small-block-of-flats-safe-from-fire

You could consult https://wilkinsoncc.co.uk/ for certainty about your responsibilites.

You could try https://www.ironout.co.uk/

Sorry I don't, you could try third party certificated companies for example https://www.blueskycert.com/installation-maintenance-and-inspection/

Based on my experience it might be from this company? https://www.komfort.com/products/timber-doors-frames/?portfolioCats=173