If you are considering undertaking any home remodelling or home improvements, you will need to check whether fire door regulations are applicable to you, and whether the installation of fire check doors is something you need to consider.
To help you know whether you need to act, our team has created an ultimate guide to fire check doors and fire door regulations. Read on to find out more.
A summary of fire door regulations
Fire doors are internal doors needed to stop (or delay) the spread of a fire from one room to another in a domestic or commercial property. They are also there to provide a means of escape for the people in the building.
Fire door regulations are in place to ensure the safety of individuals in a building in the event of a fire. Different rules apply for new and existing buildings. According to BWF CERTIFIRE, the leading authority on fire door safety, the following rules are in place:
New buildings
New buildings are held by government Building Regulations called Approved Documents, which detail the minimum standard expected from the fire doors. There are individual regulations for each of the UK countries, included for UK and Wales Approved Documents, Scotland Technical Handbooks and Northern Ireland Technical Booklets.
Existing buildings
If you’re developing, extending or remodelling an existing building, you need to conform to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, or FSO.
If you’re working on a domestic property, regulations stipulate fire doors should be installed in the following places:
- The door leading from an integral garage into the home
- On every habitable room off the stairwell in properties over three floors
If you are working on a domestic property, or making renovations to your home, the architect is responsible for determining whether internal fire doors could be installed. Make sure to ask for their fire door recommendations as part of their work.
For commercial buildings, a fire safety risk assessment must be undertaken, and a fire management plan specified. It is the duty of the named “responsible person” to carry this out.
What are fire check doors?
Fire doors, are doors that have been created in compliance with the fire door regulations. They come in a range of styles and are suitable for all properties, they can also be painted to fit the style of your property. Depending on the type of property you have, you may want to go for a specific type of internal fire door. For example in an average house or bungalow, you may not need as much time to evacuate, whereas in an HMO or commercial building that is a lot bigger, it’s likely that more time would be needed to evacuate to ensure the safety of the occupants. There are two types of fire door that are usually available, these are:
FD30 fire doors
FD30 fire doors are manufactured to provide at least 30 minutes of fire protection, without the door’s integrity or stability being compromised. After that point, it’s likely that the door would not be able to hold off the fire for much longer, however 30 minutes is considered ample time to evacuate. Some of the best FD30 fire doors that we offer include the Oak Belize – Prefinished Internal Door, and the Oak Regency 4p Internal Door.
FD60 fire doors
Offering 60 minutes of fire protection, without the door’s integrity or stability being compromised.
Fire Doors can achieve a higher rating than FD60, but these doors are mainly used for specialist buildings that hold important goods, such as data or documents.
Fire doors may have a range of features to help then combat fires, including:
- Automatic closing devices to a door closes itself
- Fire door seals or smoke seals
- Fire resisting glazing
You can read Firesafe’s full details of fire door regulations on their website.
For further information on the products available from A Wood Idea, contact our team today. Or for more insight, take a look at our blog post on the best fire doors to choose.
