Fire Door Closers Explained: Types, Adjustments and Common Faults
Most fire door closer problems are adjustment problems wearing the costume of a fault. A door slams hard enough to crack plaster and somebody orders a replacement closer. A door stops an inch short of the frame and somebody books a new doorset. In both cases a competent joiner with a screwdriver and ten minutes […]
What Is the Difference Between FD30 and FD30S Fire Doors?
One letter separates these two specifications, and buildings get it wrong constantly. A managing agent orders forty FD30 doors for a block of flats. The installer fits them correctly and the paperwork looks complete. Every flat entrance door now holds fire for thirty minutes, while letting smoke travel freely into the only stairway. Nobody notices, […]
Can You Legally Hold a Fire Door Open?
Yes, and the test is simple enough to state in one sentence: the door has to close itself when the fire alarm sounds. Every legitimate method of holding a fire door open satisfies that condition, and every illegitimate one fails it. That single test resolves most arguments. A wedge fails it. So does a hook […]
What Is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005?
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, usually called the Fire Safety Order or FSO, is the main fire safety law for buildings in use in England and Wales. It applies to almost all non-domestic premises. It also covers the shared parts of residential buildings, such as blocks of flats and HMOs. The Fire Safety […]
What Is the Fire Safety Act 2021?
The Fire Safety Act 2021 is a short law that changed who answers for some of the most important fire safety features in blocks of flats. It updated the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to make one point clear. In any building with two or more flats, the Order covers the structure, the outside […]
What Is an FD60 Fire Door?
An FD60 fire door is a doorset that holds back fire for at least 60 minutes in a fire test. FD stands for fire door, and the number tells you how many minutes the complete door lasted in the test furnace. That is the short answer. However, it hides most of what matters. The rating […]
What Is an FD30 Fire Door?
An FD30 fire door is a doorset that resists fire for at least 30 minutes in a fire test. It is also the most common fire door rating in the UK. You will find FD30 doors on flat entrances, communal corridors, stairwells, HMO bedrooms and the escape routes of most commercial buildings. Because they are […]
What Is Approved Document B (Fire Safety)?
Approved Document B is the government’s official guidance on meeting the fire safety rules in the Building Regulations for England. It covers how buildings should warn people of a fire and let them escape. It also covers how to limit fire spread inside and outside the building, and how firefighters get in. It is one […]
Fire Door Survey vs Fire Risk Assessment: What Is the Difference?
Building owners are often told they need a fire risk assessment, then told separately that they need a fire door survey, and reasonably enough they want to know why one is not enough. The two documents sound like they cover the same ground. In practice they answer very different questions, and having one does not […]
Common Fire Door Defects Found During Inspections
Inspect a hundred fire doors in a British building and you will fail most of them. That sounds alarming until you look at what actually fails. The same handful of defects accounts for the overwhelming majority of failures. Almost all of them arise after installation rather than during it. A joiner can correct most of […]