Fire Door Safety for residents in communal blocks

Fire doors create a barrier from fire and toxic cold smoke and prevent it from travelling around a building, keeping the damage to a small area, allowing for evacuation, stay put and safe access for the emergency services.

• Fire and smoke control doors can be found on the stairwells, the corridors and on the flat front doors.
• They also protect areas where there's a risk of combustion, such as bin storage or mains electricity service cupboard.
• On some occasions, fire doors will be found inside flats, but this depends on the specific design and layout of the individual flat.

Fire doors in common areas of the building (corridors and stairwell and service rooms) will have blue signage on the door. Flat front door and those inside individual flats do not require signage.

BCH has legal responsibility for the fire doors in the common areas of the building. A BCH representative will regularly complete inspections of all Fire Doors.

This includes your flat front door if you are a tenant as it faces onto the critical Means of Escape route. It's vital that it works properly when a fire breaks out, so it's important that your flat front door is a fire door, it is fit for purpose and can be regularly inspected and maintained.

If you are a leasehold tenant, you should examine the details of your lease contract and consult your landlord. You may find that you have responsibility to ensure that a suitable fire rated door with all of its compatible components is fitted.

The majority of fire doors, especially those on flat front doors, corridors and on stairwells will have cold smoke seals. You can see these seals because they are either separate from or combined with the intumescent seal; they look like a brush or a plastic fin.

They are located in either the door edge or the frame and they should completely fill the perimeter gap between the door and the frame when the door is closed.

All fire doors in common areas of the building (corridors and stairwells) and flat front doors must have appropriate fire rated door closers fitted. These closers must be adjusted correctly to ensure the opening and closing forces are correct and that the door can be operated easily.

Door closers on flat front doors will only be fitted to the interior side of the door to prevent vandalism and to allow for the door to be correctly adjusted when the closer is fitted.