Do You Need Fire Doors in a Flat or Converted House in Bromley?

Purpose-built blocks of flats

In almost any block of flats, the front door of each flat must be a fire door. That usually means an FD30S doorset, which holds back fire for 30 minutes and has smoke seals, along with a working self-closer and intumescent strips around the edge. Communal doors on stairwells and corridors also have to be fire doors, because residents need those routes to stay clear of smoke while they get out.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 covers the communal parts of a block. Since 2023 the responsible person, usually the freeholder or managing agent, has had to check communal fire doors every three months and make a best endeavours attempt to check flat entrance doors every year in any block over 11 metres high. In Bromley that takes in many of the mid-rise blocks around the town centre, Beckenham and Orpington. The fire risk assessment for your building should say which doors need attention.

Converted houses and flats above shops

Conversions are where most problems turn up. Many Bromley houses were split into flats decades ago with ordinary panel doors, little separation between floors and a shared hallway as the only way out. If a conversion was carried out without meeting the 1991 Building Regulations and fewer than two thirds of the flats are owner-occupied, it can count as a section 257 HMO under the Housing Act 2004. Bromley Council can then require upgrades to fire safety.

For converted houses, the standard approach is:

• FD30S doors with self-closers on every flat entrance off the shared hallway
• A protected escape route, so the common stair is enclosed and its walls and ceilings resist fire
• Interlinked smoke detection in the common parts, and often in each flat
• Flats above shops along the High Street or in Penge need extra care, because a commercial unit below raises the risk

Inside your own flat or house

Inside a single flat, you usually only need internal fire doors if the flat is on more than one level or has a long internal hallway that every room opens onto. In a house, the main trigger is a loft conversion. When you add a storey with a floor more than 4.5 metres above ground level, Building Regulations generally need a protected stairway running down to the front door, and every habitable room off that stair needs a fire door. FD20 is the minimum standard, although most building control officers and installers specify FD30. Bromley Council Building Control or an approved inspector will check this before signing off the work.

Who pays, and what it typically costs

Responsibility for a flat entrance door depends on your lease. Some leases put the door in the leaseholder's demise and others leave it with the freeholder, so read your lease before you agree to pay for a replacement. Communal doors are nearly always the freeholder's responsibility, and the cost is usually recovered through the service charge.

Prices depend on the door size, the condition of the existing frame, the finish and the access. As a rough guide in the Bromley area, a certified FD30S flat entrance doorset supplied and fitted with closer, seals and ironmongery often costs between £1,000 and £2,500. Internal FD30 doors for a loft conversion usually come to around £350 to £800 each when fitted. Repairs such as new seals, an adjusted closer or a reduced gap can cost as little as £80 to £250, and sometimes that is all an inspection asks for.

Make sure any new door is a certified doorset or fire rated door with its label or plug still in place, fitted by someone who can give you installation evidence. If the gaps are wrong, the hinges are the wrong type or the hardware isn't fire rated, the door won't do its job even if it is labelled FD30.