Hello all,

so I have been in a back and forth with landlord for some months now regarding my newly fitted flat entrance fire doors in that there is a gap under my door that is 15mm and my cat is trying to claw at the seals so I have put a strip across it but my cat destroyed that too, there are gas in the door above 4 mm and in some parts less than 2mm, there isn’t anything on the door  showing the manufacturer, no labels or plug and both the landlord and contractor are refusing to give it ( assuming one actually exists) and whilst all the the doors in the block  slams shut to the point it has become unbearable to live in, the door (well certainly mine as I don’t know about the others) doesn’t lock/click into the latch and can just be pushed open with a finger.

As the landlord isn’t playing ball I got the fire brigade involved and explained about my door and the basement door with the meters as it was left open (literally) without closers or a key etc especially as the new light is now permanently left on 24/7 whereas before it was on sensors.  
 

The inspector came to the “site” checked the basement and checked a different tenants door and said the property is broadly safe and meets the RRO 2005 so if I have safety issues with the door I should  take it up with the landlord ( which I have but they wasn’t responding hence my involving the LFB) but when I pointed out that it doesn’t meet the standards that is on their own website the inspector says there can be some leeway etc which makes me think why other have the min and max rules if it can be changed to suit the landlord or contractor.
 

 The landlord did “resolve” the basement issue by issuing keys for the basement following the Inspector  telling the landlord the night before they were due to arrive to add the fire doors keep shut sign however it took 2 weeks of my fighting to get the keys and we didn’t have access to the basement with the gas meter for 2 weeks after the inspection as the inspector took the word of the landlord that we had keys to access it when we did not.

This has left me confused as I thought fire doors were part of the fire brigades remit to look at, looking at someone else’s door and deeming mine safe when it doesn’t even latch isn’t helpful and as a result my landlord have dug their heels in further with not wanting to fix the door as they now have support from the LFB.

You could contact the Housing Standards officer at your local authority. From what you say, it appears your door does not comply with government advice.

Hi, I have and they told  me to go back to the landlord or fire brigade as they are the enforcement body. When I explained that the LFB aren’t being helpful either the council in a round about and polite way said if they aren’t getting involved then we certainly can’t do anymore. 

Unfortunately enforcement under the current legislation is very watered down and they won't usually bother with a single breach of the legislation, there needs to be a cumulative amount of issues leading to extremely high risk. There are thousands of sites around the country that don't meet requirements, but get 'broadly compliant' letters from the fire service.

You could go down the Housing EHO route, but what with the Grenfell Enquiry still being in full swing you might be advised to get press interest in LFB's approach.

Hi, when housing standards was mentioned I thought the EHO was what Neil meant, as they deal with the health and safety of properties and that is who I approached and they were the ones who said they can’t do any more.