Fire doors
Your flat entrance door will resist fire and smoke for a minimum of 30 minutes. The door and its fittings all meet the current fire safety regulations.
If you are a tenant, Derby Homes are responsible for ensuring your flat front door meets these requirements. It is also a legal requirement that you to allow access for these checks to be made.
In between our visits you should check that your door:
- closes fully into its frame from any open position
- has at least three (3) hinges and the screws are intact
- does not have any gaps around the edges of the door and frame (between 2mm and 4mm is normal and correct)
- does not have any signs of damage
If you notice any problems, you should report this to Derby Homes as soon as possible.
You should never tamper with, or remove the self-closing device.
Derby Homes is legally required to check all front doors to flats in buildings above 11 meters in height (Rivermead House) once a year.
Fire door responsibilities for leaseholders
If you are a leaseholder, you must carry out the fire door checks listed above. You are responsible for any repair or replacements to the doors.
The main Flat Entrance Door (FED) to your flat must be a 30-minute fire resisting 'doorset'. A fire doorset is the technical term used to mean the same thing as a fire door, but includes all parts of the door, like the door, the frame, hardware and seals.
There are two types of 30-minute fire doorsets:
- FD30 fire doors are usually older, original doors that are in good condition. These are built to resist fire for up to 30 minutes.
- FD30S fire doors not only resist fire but are also able to stop the spread of cold smoke, due to them having smoke brushes in addition to intumescent seals. The S in the rating shows that the door is also smoke resistant.
An intumescent seal is a plastic strip that runs around the door or frame. When it is exposed to heat, it expands and closes any gaps around the door to stop the fire spreading for a period of time.
It is highly recommended that any original door is upgraded to have intumescent strips with cold smoke seals and an intumescent letterbox sleeve fitted.