The purpose of a fire door is to act as a barrier, within other elements of fire compartmentation, to save lives and protect property by stopping the progress of a fire in support of both escaping occupants and firefighting activities.
They are a vital part of a building’s fire compartmentation and an essential requirement for the vast majority of premises.
Within a building, the main functions of fire doors are:
- To maintain the integrity of fire compartmentation whilst enabling access from one space to another
- Protect escape routes from the effects of fire (smoke, gases, and flames) for a stated period of time
- Contain the developing fire within the compartment to slow or stop the spread of fire to other compartments.
Fire doors are constructed using fire resistant material to contain the spread of fire for a specified period of time, normally a minimum of 30 minutes. This allows time for people to leave the building via an escape route if other routes are compromised in the event of a fire.
Fire doors are an engineered component, which includes the frame, door leaf, and any fixtures and fittings. They can be solid or made with a special core, often flax board, or a wood composite material. They will be fitted with intumescent seals, installed in the frame or leaf, which seal the door on impact with heat to stop the spread of fire and/or smoke around the edges of the door. Doors will similarly be fitted with smoke seals to prevent the passage of smoke in the early stages of fire.
During fire door installation, fire rated doors must be installed correctly in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and include the specified ironmongery and other facilities which represent the doorset as originally subject to fire testing, as this is critical to the door’s performance in the event of a fire. The British Woodworking Federation believes that “third-party certification is the only way to ensure the fire doors are manufactured consistently to protect lives and save property. Cutting corners can cost lives.”
Fire door maintenance
Because of their importance in protecting lives, it is imperative that fire doors receive regular inspections. Frequency is likely to depend on many factors, including the age and condition of the door and its frequency of use. For example, a fire door protecting a staircase will be used far more frequently than one fitted to a boiler room. Fire doors should always be fitted correctly by a competent installer as they are carefully engineered fire safety devices. Similarly, they should be inspected and maintained by competent persons.
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) (and similar legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland), building owners, operators, and occupiers – including property managers in residential premises – have a responsibility to ensure their properties and tenants are safe. This includes ensuring that firefighting facilities, equipment, and devices are subject to a suitable system of maintenance.
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, which came into force on 23 January 2023, introduced the legal requirements for:
- quarterly inspections of fire resisting doors in the communal areas in high-rise buildings and residential buildings of multiple occupancy more than 11 metres in height
- annual checks of fire resisting entrance doorsets to apartments or blocks of flats on a ‘best endeavours’ basis
- provision of information to residents relating to the significance of fire doors to a building's fire safety, highlighting the importance of not removing or disconnecting self-closing devices, keeping fire doors closed, and immediately reporting any faults or damage to doors
- fire risk assessments of buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises to be updated to take into account doors, if they have not already done so.
Those with ultimate responsibility for a premises (Responsible Person) have a legal responsibility under these legislations and can be prosecuted if they do not fulfil their duties.
A 5-step check for fire doors
- Check it for certification – For modern doors, there should be a label on top (or sometimes on the side of the door) or a coloured plug to show it is a certified fire door. However, older doors may not carry such markings or labels. Their design and construction will differ from a more modern doorset (for example, they may not have any intumescent or smoke seals but be provided with a 25mm doorstop). Where a vision panel or other glazing is installed in the leaf or as part of the surround, it should be fire resisting and properly fitted. Many fire doors are fitted with wired glass, but where clear panels are installed, they should be checked for an appropriate etched mark (usually in one corner), which confirms it is of a fire resisting type.
- Measure the gaps – The gaps around a fire door or frame should be consistently less than 4mm. You can use a gap gauge to measure this; they are available cheaply and readily online. In circumstances where the gaps are excessive or uneven, adjustment of the frame or leaf may rectify this, otherwise, replacement may be the only alternative. The leaf and frame should also be checked to ensure that it is not bowed or warped. Warped, bowed, or cupped doors are problematic to repair and commonly require replacement.
- Assess the seals – The intumescent strips and smoke seals (often combined) are paramount in ensuring the integrity of the door in a fire. If none are provided, or if they are damaged, the performance of the door under fire conditions may be compromised, so it is vital to report any damaged or missing seals.
- Does it fully close? – Open the door and let it close on its own. If it does not close all the way by itself, then it is not likely to work effectively in the event of a real fire. If the door is retained in an open position by a hold open device (such as an electro-magnetic hold open device), it should similarly be checked during the weekly fire test (fire alarm test) to ensure the doors release and close fully into their frames when the alarm is sounded. The fit of the door, hinges, and self-closing device or latch may all impact the door closing effectively.
- Check the hinges – If the hinges are not firmly fixed, have missing/broken screws, or are dirty or leaking, the integrity of the door could be compromised under fire conditions and will require maintenance. Valuable time can be saved with properly maintained hinges. Certified fire doors need at least three hinges.
Find out more about the FPA’s fire door inspection service and passive fire protection training courses.
Please be aware that considerable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within this article at the time of publication, however any legislative (or other) changes that come into effect after this may render the information out of date until it is reviewed and updated as part of the FPA’s content review cycle.