Management co demanding new flat doors

[Guest DL94]

Hi all, 

Just looking for some advice 

Our management company has told us our flat front doors are no longer compliant and we have to change them. Flat was built 15 years ago and were compliant then. Can they force me to pay upwards of 2k to change our front door and all of the internal doors in the building?

[Mike North]

A 15-year-old door would be as compliant with the latest regulations as when it was installed, the regulations for fire doors have not changed, however, there is no guarantee that the doors were compliant then installed or that the doors have not been altered that would make them uncompliant.

You should ask the agent why they are not compliant, it may be a latent defect which may be there responsibility 

[Neil ashdown]

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?

[AnthonyB]

On 27/10/2025 at 22:01, Guest DL94 said:

Hi all, 

Just looking for some advice 

Our management company has told us our flat front doors are no longer compliant and we have to change them. Flat was built 15 years ago and were compliant then. Can they force me to pay upwards of 2k to change our front door and all of the internal doors in the building?

You need the fire door report, the fire risk assessment specifying the required spec and then reference to this https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-in-purpose-built-blocks-of-flats and this https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-england-regulations-2022-fire-door-guidance to see if the recommendations made are actually required at all. Whilst sometimes doors do need replacement there are far too many being replaced with no actual legal basis due to a proliferation of both ignorance & profiteering in the fire door and risk assessment sector.

The First Tier Tribunal is your go to if you suspect the requirement is excessive - I've helped people win cases against excessive fire safety works in the past - however without a lot more information I cannot give an opinion as to whether these works are needed - in a 15 year old building it's unlikely but possible (although often repair is possible)
For example No fire door certification sticker,  unmarked hinges and non intumescent letterboxes are often used to bring on expensive works and whilst there are many situations where this can be correct there are many more where it isn't.