[Fire Doors in block of flats - replace or remedy?]

Having inspected and worked on such doors on listed property  as you have give a brief description to.

There is many products available for such work that are tested , such as laminated boards, fire boards etc that get installed to existing along with other componants. But this work is time consuming and expensive to improve the existing. And probably cost more than installing new. I suggest you read through BS8214 & RRO, inspect your doors and you may find that your existing doors are not suitable or financially economical to upgrade

Regards George Drayton FDIS inspector 

[Foam Double Sided Draft Excluder on Fire Door]

It's possibly an automatic drop seal you require which can be face fixed or concealed (Concealed require to be machine into bottom of door) they are tested to bs476-31.1 which is the smoke test of up to 200deg c and installed on fire doors with smoke control e.g. Norseal 810 & Norseal 820

[Changed lock in internal door]

Having downloaded the certificate for your door set cf218 Vicaima ltd and read through it, It says any Ce marked lock latches & certifire approved as long as they have been installed with the intumescent protection as per manufacturers instructions. Your door is still valid and compliant. If you require the cert let me know. 

Regards George Drayton FDIS Inspector

[Fire doors and block insurance]

5 hours ago, Ronan said:

Thank you @George Drayton! This is invaluable information!!! I was getting caught into the weeds of certified installers and couldn't find any that would come for just an apartment door. There are a couple of joiners with years of experience though that are willing to do the job and your post put my mind at ease.

They also both said that there is no need to change the frame as that is already for FD30 doors and they can just change the door leaf, I'm not an expert so tend to believe what they say. If they do that in compliance with the standard then it should be good right?

If they complete the work to the required standards, that's good

[Fire doors and block insurance]

Ronan, There is no such formal qualification for installing fire doors. These are misleading advertising. Yes you can enroll on a coarse with such companies the likes of trada etc, non are an actual formal qualification , they are a theory course not practical , many of the attendees  on these courses are also management who have not been directly involved in any practicle work whatsoever. Your new fire door can be installed by a competent person. As the RRO states a competent person is someone with sufficient knowledge,experience and qualifications. A joiners trade qualifications NVQs, city & guilds etc are the qualifications, his experience at installing doors &frames and his knowledge of the required criteria required for fire doors and frames ie BS8214 which he would have gained on site over the years.

Regards George 

FDIS Inspector & tradesman 

[Fire Doors - Normal Door Frame]

Red, a)you have a 762x1981 (2"6x6'6") door that is not a fire door, this is a standard size door.

B)The existing door frame may be a rebated frame not a planted on door stop and only be for an 1"3/8 door thickness(35mm).

C)The existing  frame will not have grooves machined in to install fire/smoke seal.

D) your opening size between the walls is for a 762mm door +frame.

Your joiner makes less sense by suggesting chopping into the wall.without viewing a photo of the opening?. IF he made the opening larger between the walls for a larger door then how would this operate as the components would be restricted from operating with the walls. Or does your exist frame have panelling timber or glass etc at the sides?

D) You require a 762x1981 door + the frame /fire door set for your existing opening

Upload a photo of the existing if possible

[Fire doors and block insurance]

You have an fd30 door the door has/ should have certification and that design of fire door has been tested for 30 mins. If you modify that door it's test certificate is invalid. If you modify your door it loses it's fire protection .  

[Fire Doors - Normal Door Frame]

If there is a requirement for fire doors to be installed, the door and frame come as a set & will have third party certification . The frame would also include grooves in the rebate for the installation of smoke/fire seals. 

Puzzled with the sentence of your joiner could not complete the works as the frames were bigger than the openings,  had he measured up prior to turning up and supplying the door sets?

[Hold open device]

On 14/02/2023 at 16:25, Guest Joe said:

Hi has anyone seen this hold open device before. There is no information on it. It has been installed on a nominal FD30 door. Is it allowed if it’s only surface fitted?

Looks like a hold open device used on the likes of a garage door.

No it should not be used on a fire door,  as it's not linked to your active alarm system, it's manually operated.

Regards George Drayton 

[Self-closers in an HMO let to professionals etc]

On 25/01/2023 at 16:21, Guest John said:

Hi

I have fire doors fitted throughout various HMOs that I manage. They have intumescent strips and, in one case, Perko concealed self-closers. Are self-closing mechanisms actually compulsory on bedroom doors (tenants hate them)? And are Perkos sufficient or do they have to be the horrible free swinging ones?

Thank you 

Hi, perko door closers are not recommend for fire doors as they do not have a latch control adjustment and do not always fully close the door into the frame. You mention swing free closers, a swing free overhead closer requires a power supply and to be linked to your active system(alarm) which when alarm activates the closer converts from swing free to self closing.

Or were you maybe just meaning a normal fire rated overhead door closer but thinking they are all swing free? And you dislike O/H closers?

regards George Drayton 

[Frame & Leaf Gap, Slamming & Sealants]

Hi, with the size of the clearances door to frame, your seals are ineffective & not compliant. There is seals you can add that are tested  for fire doors such as bats wing seal for smoke and acoustics there is a large choice of manufacturers such as lorient, norseal etc, they are self adhesive & fit in the rebate/doorstop. The gap at the thresh, you require an auto drop down seal, which come in face fixed or concealed (the concealed would require a tradesman to install). Your closer , you said you adjusted controls but the door would not fully close, check that the door is not binding on the door stop/rebate when closing. When adjusting controls only turn quarter turns at a time and adjust the speed first before you adjust latch control. You mention door is heavy to open, it is possible the power setting of closer is on incorrect setting , this is adjustable, but I see no photo of the closer.

I hope this helps

Regards George