Updates have been made by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) to the guidance issued on Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022: fire doors
Issued on 8 August, the updates add a new foreword and amended text in three sections throughout the guidance and provide further clarification to the checklist relating to strips and seals.
The foreword explains that the guidance has been revised in the light of “government concerns regarding a misunderstanding of the scope and intent of the Regulations, which has resulted in burdens on leaseholders”. This has seen advice being given to replace flat entrance doors that were not manufactured, and certificated, in accordance with current standards for new fire-resisting doors.
However, the guidance makes it clear that the purpose of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 is “not to ensure that existing flat entrance doors satisfy the current standards for flat entrance doors in new blocks of flats, as imposed under the Building Regulations”. It explains the purpose is to implement recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry relating to self-closing flat entrance doors, with the requirement being that “the fire performance of the door is adequate to address the risk to residents from fire.”
The foreword also highlights the importance of understanding the difference between the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order to consider the fire resistance of doors as part of a fire risk assessment, and the “very simple, but important, checks required under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations.”
The amended text appears in sections 2.4 (relating to the responsibilities of the Responsible Person under Regulation 10 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations), 6.7 (covering the things to look at when carrying out fire door checks), and the summary box at the end of the guidance.
The update to the checklist relating to a fire door’s strips and seals makes it clear that:
“The door may be acceptable, on the basis of fire risk, even if intumescent strips and smoke seals are not present (because the door was manufactured in accordance with earlier standards); the purpose of this check is to ensure only that if these components are present, they are undamaged.”
You can access the updated guidance here.