Fire Door Installation London — FD30 & FD60 Doorsets Fitted

FD30 doors resist fire for 30 minutes and are standard for HMO bedroom and kitchen doors. FD60 doors give 60 minutes and are used in higher-risk locations.

Yes. We can check certification evidence, gaps, seals and closers on existing doors and report which need repair or replacement.

A door leaf itself is rarely upgradable to a certified fire door standard, so where a door doesn't meet the required rating we replace the doorset rather than modifying the existing door. The frame, seals and door work together as a certified set.

Excessive gaps around the door edge, missing or painted-over intumescent seals, and closers that have been disconnected or wedged open are the most common failures we see on inspection.

A single doorset, including hanging, seals and closer, is typically fitted within a day, though a full block or portfolio of doors is scheduled as a programme so occupied rooms aren't all disrupted at once.

In blocks of flats, entrance doors opening onto a shared hallway or stairwell used as an escape route are almost always required to be fire doors, typically FD30 with a self-closer, because they hold back fire and smoke on the escape route while other residents get out. Internal doors within a single self-contained flat aren't usually required to be fire rated unless the property is an HMO, or the building's fire strategy specifically calls for it, for example where a flat has an internal escape route through another room. The building's fire risk assessment sets out exactly what's required for each door, and it's worth checking that before assuming.

Responsibility for common parts, including doors onto shared escape routes, usually sits with the freeholder or managing agent as the responsible person under fire safety legislation. A flat's own entrance door is often the leaseholder's responsibility to maintain under the lease, though the responsible person still has a duty to check it's adequate as part of the building's fire risk assessment. In practice we're instructed both ways, by managing agents replacing communal doors across a whole block, and by individual leaseholders replacing their own front door because a survey or fire risk assessment flagged it, or simply because it's due for renewal.

Yes, and it's a routine part of the job in London's older conversions. We survey the opening first to check its size, squareness and depth, then either order a doorset sized to suit or adjust the frame and packing so the certified door still closes onto the correct gap tolerance all the way round. The packing and fixing has to follow the manufacturer's fitting instructions for that doorset rather than being cut freehand, because the certification only holds if the door is installed the way it was tested. Where an opening is significantly out of standard sizes, a bespoke doorset is ordered rather than forcing a standard one to fit.

You should end up with a clear paper trail: the doorset manufacturer's test or assessment evidence for that specific configuration, and a fitting record confirming who installed each door, when, and that gaps, seals and the closer were checked and signed off. On block and portfolio jobs we also provide a photographic record of each door as fitted, which is useful evidence to sit in the responsible person's fire safety file and to show at licensing inspections or when a fire risk assessor asks for it. Keeping this with the building's other fire safety records, rather than with whoever project-managed the works, means it's still there years later.

Yes, but only using components that fall within the doorset's tested scope. Vision panels use fire-rated glass, either Georgian wired or a clear pyrolytic type, set in matching intumescent beading rather than standard bead. Letterplates, door numerals and spy holes are fitted with fire-rated liners or intumescent sleeves so the seal around the cut-out is maintained. Adding ironmongery that wasn't part of the tested assembly, even something as simple as the wrong hinge, can technically invalidate the door's certification, so we specify and source components to match what the doorset manufacturer allows rather than using whatever's convenient.

In most cases, yes. A single door usually takes a matter of hours, so a tenant can generally stay in the flat and simply keep clear of the room being worked on at the time. For a full HMO or block programme covering several doors, we sequence the work room by room so only one door is out of action at once rather than leaving the whole property without doors overnight. The main thing to plan for is access, since the tenancy agreement's notice period needs to be given before we can enter, and someone needs to be able to let us in on the day.

Old doors and frames are removed and taken off site as general construction waste, either with us directly or via a skip on larger programmes. They're not usually salvageable for reuse elsewhere in the property, since an old timber door that wasn't fire rated has no certification value even if the timber itself looks sound. If a landlord wants to keep a period front door for its character rather than dispose of it, that's worth flagging before work starts so it can be stored rather than skipped, though it obviously can't then be reused as the fire-rated replacement.

It doesn't have to, but it usually should for the room to look finished. Certified doorsets are available pre-finished in a range of veneers, laminates or as a paint-grade skin ready for site decoration, and we'd normally match the new door to the existing joinery, skirting or other doors in the property where that's straightforward. On a single flat entrance door replacement in a block, matching the finish used on neighbouring doors is often expected by the managing agent for consistency along the corridor, and it's worth checking that before ordering rather than after.

It depends on the damage. Superficial scuffs or scratches to the surface finish don't usually affect the door's fire performance and can be touched up or repainted, taking care not to cover the seals or certification label. Deeper gouges, holes, or damage that's gone through the facing into the core are a different matter, since the certified performance relies on the leaf being intact as tested, and a door in that condition should be assessed rather than assumed to still be compliant. We can survey a damaged door and advise whether it's repairable or needs replacing.