Fire Doors on Flat Conversion?

[TopperUK]

 

I hope someone can help, thanks in advance for any advice.

I'm renovating my former two storey office premises to add two x one bedroom flats to the ground floor and I currently live in the first floor flat. Each flat has it's own separate entrance and there are no communal areas, the first floor flat is less than 4.5m from the ground.

I'm looking to rent out all three flats on completion and just want some advice on fire doors for the upstairs flat.

The architect showed lots of fire doors upstairs but I think this was because there wasn't a door on the kitchen when he did the plans. There is now a standard door on the kitchen, would we still need fire doors on all the doors as per the plans below which show the ground floor entrance and the first floor flat layout (without the kitchen door)?

Every room except the bathroom has a means of escape window.

Would just fire doors on the kitchen and the boiler room suffice?

As we will be living in the flat while work is going on, the fewer doors we need to replace wth fire doors the better to minimise mess and disruption, but obviously we want to keep within regulations.

Many thanks

 

[AnthonyB]

You will find your answers here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/832631/Approved_Document_B__fire_safety__volume_1_-_2019_edition.pdf

 

In the old days often only kitchen and living room doors were fire doors, now they all have to be other than the bathroom. They don't, however, need self closers or intumescent strips.

[TopperUK]

Thanks for the response.

Reading through the document, am I right in saying that although the building has been split into three separate residentuial units, as each unit has its own independent external entrance (onto the street), there are no communal areas and the first floor flat is less than 4.5m from the ground, they would each be classed as a dwellinghouse rather than a flat with regards Section 2 means of escape regulations?

If classed as dwellinghouses, I can't see anything definitive saying that all doors in the upstairs flat need to be fire doors unless I'm missing something?

All habitable rooms have escape windows and as said above, all units have indepenedent external entrances and below 4.5m.

You say all rooms in the upstairs flat now need to be fire doors, is that because to get access to the external entrance you have to go through the lounge?

[AnthonyB]

I'm used to houses of more than one storey and flats in blocks, the latter using the protected hall approach and requiring the requisite doors as per Table C.

At the end of the day it's a Building Control matter and LABC or your AI will decide how to interpret the guidance.

Mostly the internal doors are FD20 doors, which is usually an FD30 blank without the intumescent strips. Every new build flat I've been to has this set up.
 

[TopperUK]

Thanks, I'll have to wait until the private building control officer can visit. He's been furloughed by his company so no idea when that will be though.

He did say on a previous visit that not all doors would need to be fire doors, but never specified which ones. Very frustrating that I can't get this confirmed as I want to get the doors on order with all the delivery delays.

[TopperUK]

Sorry, one more thing, would the existing door frames have to be replaced with fire rated ones? The builder was talking about just replacing the door stops to facilitate the thicker fire doors where required, and possibly routing a groove to take intumescent strips. Is that allowed?

Thanks again.

[Neil ashdown]

In order for the doors to be installed as compliant, its better to replace the door frame for a number of reasons.  A major one being that some timber-based fire doors have very limited scope for trimming the edges to fit existing frames.

[Guest LESLEYP]

Hi I really need help please getting lots of conflicting opinions on doors for my maisonettes. It was a house changed into flats about 10 years ago I'm upgrading everything and want to change doors. The front door to the property is fine you then stand in the shared hallway to the left is the front door to the ground floor flat and in front of you is the front door to the upstairs flat(maisonette) do these need to be fire doors and is that 30 or 60 mins and how many fire doors will I need internally? kitchen and lounge or all except bathroom? Will internals need to be self closing? 

Any help would be much appreciated even a fire officer I spoke to seemed unsure!

Many thanks

[AnthonyB]

The flat front doors is easy, it's always been a 30 minute self closing doorset with (since the late 80's) intumescent strips and cold smoke seals.

Similarly flat internal doors other than the bathroom should be (at least) 20 minute fire doors without closers (it has changed a lot over the last 60 years of flat fire safety standards)