Why Understanding Fire Doors Could Save Lives
Fire safety in the UK has evolved over many decades. Unfortunately, much of that evolution has followed tragic fires in which people have lost their lives.
Over the years, legislation has moved from a highly prescriptive system—where Fire and Rescue Services played a major role in setting and policing standards—towards the risk-based approach we have today.
The introduction of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which came into force in 2006, fundamentally changed the way fire safety is managed.
Responsibility was placed upon those who control or manage premises—the Responsible Person—with fire risk assessment becoming central to the process.
This was intended to create a more flexible and proportionate approach to fire safety.
But there is a problem.
A risk-based system only works properly when the people making decisions understand risk, construction and fire-safety systems.
And this is particularly important when we look at fire doors.
A Fire Door Is Not Just a Door
One of the biggest areas of misunderstanding I have encountered throughout my career is the way fire doors are viewed.
A fire door is sometimes treated simply as a product that needs to be installed because a regulation, fire-risk assessment or building inspector says one is required.
That is not the way I believe fire doors should be understood.
A fire door is part of a life-safety system.
Its purpose is to perform a specific function within the building’s overall fire strategy.
A fire door may be there to:
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Protect a means of escape
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Maintain compartmentation
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Protect a staircase
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Separate different uses within a building
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Protect a higher-risk area
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Prevent fire and smoke spreading from one part of a building to another
Therefore, before asking:
“What fire door do I need?”
We should first ask:
“Why is the fire door required here?”
There needs to be a reason.
There needs to be a fire-safety strategy.
And there needs to be an understanding of what that door is actually intended to protect.
More Than 50 Years of Fire-Safety Experience
I have spent more than 50 years of my working life learning about and practically dealing with fire safety.
During that time, I have worked across a wide range of premises and experienced fire safety at many different levels, from relatively straightforward buildings through to much more complex and higher-risk environments.
I have personally carried out more than 10,000 fire risk assessments and have operated my own fire-safety businesses for 25 years.
That experience has allowed me to see not only how fire safety is supposed to work, but also where it can go wrong.
And one issue repeatedly stands out:
Fire door compliance.
Why Fire Door Compliance Is Such a Major Issue
Across a large number of buildings, fire doors are:
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Incorrectly specified
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Incorrectly installed
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Damaged
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Poorly maintained
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Altered without a proper understanding of the fire strategy
Sometimes, the door itself may appear perfectly satisfactory.
But a fire door is not just the door leaf.
A compliant fire door system can involve:
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The door leaf
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The frame
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Hinges
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Intumescent and smoke seals
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Door closers
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Glazing
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Locks and other hardware
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Thresholds
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The surrounding wall construction
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The installation
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Ongoing maintenance and condition of the complete assembly
Every component matters.
A fire door that was correctly manufactured can still fail to perform its intended function if it has been incorrectly installed, damaged, modified or fitted into an unsuitable wall.
That is why simply asking whether a door is “FD30” or “FD60” is not enough.
The real question is whether the complete fire door system is suitable for the location, construction and purpose for which it has been provided.
How Do You Check Whether Your Fire Doors Are Compliant?
This is one of the questions I want to answer throughout this guide.
A basic visual inspection can identify many obvious problems.
Here are some of the areas you can look at.
Door Condition
Is the door leaf damaged?
Are there holes, splits or excessive gaps?
Has the door been cut, drilled or modified?
Gaps and Seals
Are the gaps around the door consistent and appropriate?
Are the intumescent and smoke seals present?
Are they damaged, missing or painted over?
Hinges and Hardware
Are the correct hinges fitted?
Are they secure?
Have unsuitable or additional hardware items been installed?
Door Closer
Does the door close fully into the frame?
Does it close from the fully open position?
Is the closer damaged or incorrectly adjusted?
Frame and Surrounding Construction
Is the frame secure?
Is the wall around the frame in good condition?
Are there signs of damage or gaps around the frame?
Glazing
Is the glazing appropriate for the fire door?
Is it damaged?
Does the glazing system appear to be original and correctly installed?
Location
And perhaps most importantly:
Why is the fire door there in the first place?
A perfectly good fire door in the wrong location does not necessarily provide the protection that the building’s fire strategy requires.
Compliance Is More Than Passing a Visual Inspection
This is where the subject becomes more complicated.
There is a significant difference between identifying obvious defects and establishing whether a fire door system is actually compliant and suitable for its intended purpose.
A competent assessment may require consideration of:
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The door’s certification
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Specification
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Installation
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Surrounding construction
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Hardware
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Glazing
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Seals
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The particular location in which it has been installed
This is why I believe there is a need for greater understanding throughout the industry.
Fire doors should not be assessed simply as individual products.
They need to be considered as part of the building’s fire strategy.
The Lessons of Grenfell
The Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, in which 72 people lost their lives, demonstrated the devastating consequences that can occur when multiple elements of a building’s fire-safety strategy fail or are not properly understood.
Grenfell raised fundamental questions about:
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Construction
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Materials
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Compartmentation
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Fire doors
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External walls
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Regulation
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Responsibility
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Competence
It reinforced an important principle:
Fire Safety Is a System
A fire door cannot be considered in isolation from the wall it is installed in.
A compartment cannot be considered in isolation from the means of escape.
And a fire-risk assessment cannot be considered in isolation from the actual construction and condition of the building.
Everything has to work together.
The Fire Door Compliance Problem Today
The fire-safety environment today is considerably more demanding than it was when the current risk-based system was introduced.
Building owners and Responsible Persons face increasing expectations around:
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Competence
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Record keeping
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Inspection
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Maintenance
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Demonstrating that appropriate fire-safety measures are actually in place
Yet many people responsible for buildings may not have a detailed understanding of fire door systems.
That creates a significant compliance risk.
A fire door may look correct.
It may even carry a label or certification.
But that does not automatically mean that the complete installed system is suitable for the location in which it has been used.
Compliance has to be understood in context.
The Common-Sense Approach to Fire Safety
My aim is not to make fire safety unnecessarily complicated.
Quite the opposite.
I want to make it easier for people to understand.
I want building owners, Responsible Persons, property managers, contractors, fire-risk assessors and anyone responsible for the safety of a building to understand:
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Where should fire doors be located?
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Why are they required there?
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What are they designed to protect?
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How should they be inspected?
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What makes a fire door system compliant?
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What evidence should be available to demonstrate compliance?
And perhaps most importantly:
What should you do when you discover that your fire doors are not compliant?
These are the questions that this guide will explore.
Because good fire safety is not about blindly following regulations or simply installing more fire doors.
It is about:
Understanding the building.
Understanding the risks.
Understanding the purpose of the measures being provided.
A competent approach should be based upon knowledge, evidence, experience and proportionality.
And that is what I mean by:
The Common-Sense Approach to Fire Safety
A fire door is not just a door—it is part of a life-safety system. If you don’t understand why it is there, you cannot properly assess whether it is doing its job.
There needs to be a reason.
There needs to be a fire-safety strategy.
And there needs to be an understanding of what that door is actually intended to protect.