Jump to content

richardinnorwich

Members
  • Posts

    5
  • Joined

  • Last visited

richardinnorwich's Achievements

  1. Hi Anthony, thanks for your response, it's good to know that the document has a status and provides evidence of compliance. The section that I quoted was out of the document Neil referenced "fire safety in small blocks of flats" I already stated that there are no common area doors, only flat entrance doors. The whole section (page 24, right hand side) states: "Maintenance of all fire doors. It is important that all fire doors and their self-closing devices are checked on a regular basis (at least every six months in the case of fire doors within common parts, and preferably annually in the case of flat entrance doors) to make sure that they maintain the protection to escape routes" I agree it would be wise to follow the guide but the guide isn't giving a specific time period just "preferably annually". If it said "preferably annually but a minimum of once every 2 years" that would provide a definitive timescale, but it doesn't hence my query.
  2. Hi Neil, thanks for your response and thanks for the link. That document is one of the ones I've already been looking at and for inspection states "preferably annually in the case of flat entrance doors". 'Preferably' is the bit that seems open to interpretation i.e. it's not mandated that there is a fixed time period for inspection for flat entrance doors whereas communal doors states "at least every six months" (no wriggle room). Also interested to see that they don't specify a gap tolerance for the bottom of the door. Historically I've seen 8-10mm as acceptable but this document says "gaps at the bottom of the doors should be as small as practicable" Any thoughts on that one. Thanks
  3. Hi everyone, I'm reading some conflicting information on how often Flat entrance Fire doors (not communal areas, lobby doors etc.) need to be inspected and the level of inspection/FRA required. The blocks that I'm asking for are all under 11m and meet all the criteria for the guidance that applies to "small blocks of flats". The articles/sites that I'm getting the info from are non-commercial and government sites, some seem to be saying that beyond an initial inspection, inside and out( gaps, seals, hinges, closer, intumescents etc) to establish that they comply with regs all that is required from that point is an external inspection to make sure it's still a good fit with no obvious signs of damage and that it hasn't been replaced. Other sites seem to be suggesting that they need and inside and out inspection with a check on gaps close etc. Within those differences the time periods for either inspection seems to vary, some saying annually, some every2 or 5 years, some suggesting that it's down to property owner to notify of any issues. Any guidance would be great, if you could supply a link/reference to the source material so I can reference it that would be even better. Thanks, Richard
  4. Hi Anthony, thanks for your response glad you think they fall into the notional door category. Just got a slight query on whether the doors qualified as 30minute doors (without the intumescent strips) when they were installed, I should have mentioned that they were new builds in the mid 80s, as there's around 50 flats in total, seems surprising that building control would sign them all off if they didn't comply, although it was the time of "Auf wiedersehen Pet"
  5. Hi everyone, before I get to my topic I'd just like to say a huge thankyou to the admin/mods/contributors of this forum, it's been an invaluable resource so far. So here's my query, me and my neighbours have just received a letter from the managing agents of our development (a mix of 2 and 3 storey blocks) saying that after a fire risk assessment we all have to upgrade (not replace) our front doors to comply with current regulations by retro-fitting intumescent seals and smoke strips and ensuring that hinges and closers comply. The doors are marked with a blue dot in a white circle and have 25mm doorstops for smoke control and are stated as being in good condition and fit on the report, the assessor is saying that without smoke seals they're only a 20 minute door so need them fitted (they appear to be ignoring the 25mm stops). I've studied all the literature I can find on this and focused on the 'Local Government Association guide to fire safety in purpose built blocks of flats 2011' (link courtesy of here) as this seems to be the fire safety bible and it pretty much says that if the door is original to the build (in good condition and fit) it would have complied with fire regs of the time and (whilst it might be desirable) there is no need to upgrade (the only exception being the rising butt hinges, all of ours have overhead closers). I got hold of the number for the assessor and called them to query it and was told that the doors needed to have 25mm doorstops and seals to comply, I mentioned that the Local government association guidance had a different view on it and got a very short and swift "new regulations just came in". I've hunted high and low, found a few new government documents on the topic the most recent being July of this year, but nothing that says the situation has changed with regards to existing fire doors and having to upgrade in fact the most recent documents say to refer back to the LGA guidance. If I'm missing it please can someone point me in the right direction and can you clarify whether this work needs to be done. My concern is that the managing agents are just applying a blanket policy across all their properties to cover their butts because they know they can't force us to replace the doors p.s. we all own a share of the freehold so we are the freeholders. Thanks in advance, Richard
×
×
  • Create New...