Lives are unnecessarily being placed at risk by the removal of internal fire doors for aesthetic purposes by homeowners, warns Derbyshire Building Control Partnership (DBCP).
The Covid pandemic has heralded an upsurge in demand for home improvement projects, leading to home owners building up and converting garages in an effort to create more space in their properties for home offices.
Building regulations stipulate that fire doors are required in the following areas of domestic properties:
• A two-storey house which has a door leading from an integral garage into the house
• A new build or renovated property which has three or more storeys (including loft conversions) must have fire doors to every habitable room off the stairwell
Fire doors are heavy and must operate a self-closing mechanism, using spring loaded self-closing hinges. It is these very factors that are causing some property owners to either illegally replace them once signed off by Building Control, or permanently disable the self-closing mechanisms.
DBCP, the leading and recommended provider of building control services in Derbyshire, wants people to understand the important role of fire doors; and that by removing or replacing these doors, they are both contravening Building Regulations, endangering life and potentially invalidating their building’s insurance policy.
Dave Pratt, DBCP’s Building Control Manager explained: “Fire doors can be one of the most important safety features in homes and commercial buildings when it comes to controlling a fire giving the building’s occupants essential time to get out of the building. As tempting as it may be to replace them to fit in with other home decor – fire doors are life savers, it’s that simple. Removing them, replacing them with non fire doors, propping them open or obstructing them, places lives in danger. It’s also important to note that any of these actions could also invalidate a building’s insurance policy.”
Fire doors are used to compartmentalise buildings to delay the spread of fire and smoke from one area to another. They offer two important functions in a fire; they provide a means of escape when opened, and a barrier to stop the spread of fire and smoke when closed.
In order to reduce the spread of flames, fire doors are made of fire-resistant materials, usually heavy timber or composite materials.
A fire door is one that has been specially built and fitted. The most common fire door used in homes is the FD30, which can withstand flames and smoke for up to 30 minutes enabling people to evacuate safely. As the spread of smoke is even more of a threat to life than the fire itself, particularly in the early stages of the fire, fire doors must also be fitted with a cold smoke seal to prevent the ingress of smoke around the door edges, all fire doors must have certification and installers must ensure they follow this meticulously, It is important to remember that a fire door is an element of a whole system called a ‘doorset’. BS EN 12519 defines a doorset as ‘supplied complete with all essential parts from a single source’.
In addition, fire doors must also:
• Be fitted with undamaged seals around the edges of the door.
• Have an absolute minimum of three hinges firmly fixed which are free from metal fragments and oil leakage.
• Be fitted with door closers installed at the top of the door to ensure they automatically shut. There should be no wedges being used to keep the door open. (There are devices available to keep a fire door open that will automatically shut when the fire alarm sounds. These doors are safe and legal).
Building owners and residents should ensure that all fire doors are kept in good condition and the self-closing mechanism is working correctly at all times.
For commercial purposes, existing buildings are subject to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Every non-domestic building requires a fire risk assessment by the responsible person. New buildings, or older buildings with alterations or extensions, are subject to the appropriate Building Regulations which are also known as Approved Documents.
Anyone who is considering making changes to their home or business premises is advised to contact DBCP’s expert team to organise an inspection, to ensure that the renovations meet Building Control regulations in full, by submitting a preliminary application.
Please get in touch with the DBCP team today here or call 0333 880 2000.