For freeholders, RMCs and managing agents
Fire Doors for Flats: Rules, Ratings and Replacement
Sviatoslav JerdetchiiCEO & Founder of Craftex. Updated , 5 min read
The short answer
A flat entrance door in a block is a fire door: Approved Document B asks for at least FD30S, a 30-minute doorset that limits smoke, with a self-closing device. In blocks over 11 metres the law also sets regular checks.
- Communal fire doors in blocks over 11 metres must be checked at least every 3 months.
- Flat entrance doors need best endeavours to check them at least every 12 months, with a record of attempts.
- Since 16 May 2022 the Fire Safety Order covers every door between a flat and the common parts.
- Replace a door when the doorset can no longer hold its rating: a mixed or altered set is not a certified set.
Fire doors for flats protect the escape route. In a block, the flat entrance door holds fire and smoke inside the flat while neighbours leave. So it must be a tested fire doorset that closes itself.
Approved Document B asks for at least FD30S at the flat entrance, with a self-closing device. In England, blocks over 11 metres also have set checks: communal doors every 3 months, flat entrance doors every 12 months.
We carry out fire door installation across whole London blocks, so this guide ends with how a replacement programme runs. We do not inspect or certify doors. Facing a block of failed doors? Get a free door schedule.
Fire door regulations for flats in blocks over 11 m
Regulation 10 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 has applied since 23 January 2023. It sets duties on the building's responsible person in blocks with two or more flats.
| Duty | Which blocks | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Tell residents to keep fire doors shut, not tamper with closers and report faults | Two or more flats, with common escape routes | New residents promptly, all residents every 12 months |
| Check communal fire doors, including that closers work | Over 11 m | At least every 3 months |
| Check flat entrance fire doors, including that closers work | Over 11 m | Best endeavours, at least every 12 months |
| Keep a record of flat door checks and failed access | Over 11 m | Each 12-month period |
The flat door check is a "best endeavours" duty. If a resident refuses access, the responsible person records the steps taken to get in. A missing record is the gap a fire risk assessor finds first.
The Fire Safety Act 2021 settled an older argument. Since 16 May 2022, the Fire Safety Order covers all doors between flats and common parts in England. Flat entrance doors now sit inside the responsible person's fire safety regime.
FD30S ratings, self-closers and smoke seals
A fire door is a doorset, not a door. The rating belongs to the tested set: the leaf, frame, seals, glazing and hardware together. Approved Document B says small differences in the installed assembly may significantly affect the rating.
| Rating | What it means |
|---|---|
| FD30 | Integrity for at least 30 minutes, tested to BS 476-22 |
| FD30S | As FD30, with restricted smoke leakage at room temperature |
| E 30 Sa | The European classification for the same performance |
| Self-closing device | Closes the door from any open position; required on flat entrance fire doors |
Approved Document B gives a minimum of FD30S, or E 30 Sa, for the door between a flat and a shared corridor or stair. Doors inside a flat do not need self-closers.
Who is responsible for a flat entrance door
Two questions get mixed up: who must check the door, and who owns and pays for it. The answers can differ.
The responsible person, usually the freeholder or management company, must bring the flat entrance doors into the fire safety regime and run the checks. Ownership sits in the lease. Many leases demise the front door to the leaseholder; others keep it with the landlord.
| Task | Usually |
|---|---|
| Fire risk assessment and door checks | The responsible person |
| Telling residents how to use fire doors | The responsible person |
| Owning and repairing the door | Set by the lease: leaseholder or landlord |
| Consent to change the door | The landlord, under the lease |
| Paying for a block-wide replacement | Set by the lease and any service charge provisions |
Where a door must be replaced as a building safety defect, the leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act may cap what qualifying leaseholders pay. GOV.UK lists replacing inadequate fire doors as a non-cladding defect. Recoverable costs go through Section 20 consultation.
Checks, faults and when to replace
A check finds faults; the fault decides whether you repair or replace. Repairs keep the tested set intact. Replacement is needed when the set can no longer be brought back to its rating.
| Fault found at the check | Usual fix |
|---|---|
| Closer missing, disconnected or too weak | Refit or replace the closer, set it to close fully |
| Intumescent strips or smoke seals missing or painted over | Replace the seals to the doorset's tested specification |
| Gaps too wide at the edges | Adjust if possible; often a sign the set needs replacing |
| Letterbox, spyhole or lock cut in on site | Replace with tested hardware, or replace the doorset |
| Leaf replaced but the old frame kept | Replace as a certified doorset |
| Frame loose or the wall around it not fire-stopped | Re-fix and fire-stop, or replace the set |
Where many doors in a block fail for the same reason, a whole-block replacement is often simpler for residents. It is planned once, tendered once and evidenced once. Our guide to fire compartmentation covers the fire stopping around door frames.
Period and mansion block doors
London's mansion blocks raise a harder question: how to keep panelled doors, fanlights and original ironmongery and still meet the rating. There are two routes, and the fire risk assessor decides which is acceptable for the building.
- Upgrade and evidence. Some period doors can be upgraded with seals, intumescent treatments and closers, with evidence for the performance. It depends on the door, the frame and the evidence available.
- Replace to match. A certified doorset made to match the period design: panels, mouldings, paint finish and ironmongery chosen to suit the hall.
Craftex started in 2016 as a carpentry and joinery company, and joinery is still a trade we run with our own people. At Herbert Crescent in Knightsbridge we refurbished a 450 m² prime home with bespoke joinery throughout.
Craftex has completed a range of both small and large-scale projects on our commercial property with exceptional precision and quality. Dmitriy consistently delivers courteous, prompt service and has shown great flexibility in accommodating last-minute changes to plans and timelines. I highly recommend Craftex for their professionalism and outstanding workmanship.
Replacing doors across a whole block
A block-wide programme works best run like any other contract, to a schedule and a date.
- Survey every door. Flat entrance, communal, riser and plant-room doors, each with its faults recorded.
- Build the door schedule. One line per door: rating, size, finish, hardware and whether it is repaired or replaced.
- Agree the specification. Certified doorsets, fitted to the manufacturer's tested instructions, with the fire stopping around each frame.
- Tell residents. Notices, booked install days and a plan so nobody is locked out.
- Hand over the records. A door register with photos and installation records, ready for the next check.
Work in occupied blocks is where we work. At Pan Peninsula in Canary Wharf we rebuilt a 290 sq m penthouse in 10 weeks with residents at home. The access, notices and booked visits are the same on a door programme.
Doors to replace across a block? Send us the fire risk assessment for a free door schedule and a programme. Already have a quote? Send it to us. We'll beat it.
- The current fire risk assessment and any fire door survey
- Regulation 10 records: 3-monthly communal checks and 12-monthly flat door checks
- The lease: who owns and repairs the flat entrance doors
- A door schedule: rating, size, finish and hardware for every door
- Certified doorsets and the fire stopping around each frame
- Resident notices and booked install days
- A door register with photos at handover
