A fire door only does its job if every part of it works together: the door leaf, the frame, the seals, the hinges and the closer. Many doors around Sutton look the part but would fail in a real fire because of a gap that is too wide or a closer that no longer latches. Here is how to check yours, and how to tell when it needs a professional eye.
It depends on the type of property. If you own a flat in a block, whether a purpose built building near Sutton town centre or a converted Victorian house in Carshalton or Wallington, your front door almost certainly needs to be a fire door because it opens onto a shared escape route. The communal areas fall under the Fire Safety Order, and London Fire Brigade is the enforcing authority for the borough.
In blocks with a top floor more than 11 metres above ground, the responsible person must check communal fire doors every three months and make best efforts to check flat entrance doors once a year. Landlords of HMOs licensed by Sutton Council are normally expected to fit FD30 doors to bedrooms and kitchens. In an ordinary house, fire doors usually only come into play after a loft conversion creates a third storey, which is common in the 1930s semis around Cheam and Belmont.
You do not need tools beyond a torch, a tape measure and a £1 coin, which is roughly 3mm thick and makes a handy gap gauge.
In converted houses, the usual issue is an original panelled door that has been given a closer and called a fire door. It rarely is one. In purpose built blocks, the common faults are closers removed by residents who found the door heavy, letterboxes without intumescent liners, and doors trimmed to clear new flooring, leaving gaps well over the limit.
Replacement front doors are another frequent culprit. A composite or uPVC door fitted as a home improvement may not be a certified fire doorset at all, and a door leaf swapped into an old frame is unlikely to match what was fire tested. If your flat door was changed without the freeholder or managing agent seeing paperwork, it is worth having it looked at.
Your own check will catch obvious faults, but it will not produce evidence that satisfies a managing agent, insurer or fire risk assessor. A professional inspection records each door against its certification, measures gaps at multiple points, and gives you a written report listing what passes, what can be repaired and what must be replaced.
Cost depends on the number of doors, access and how detailed the report needs to be. As a rough guide around Sutton, expect something in the region of £15 to £30 per door on a multi door survey, with a minimum charge for single doors. Many failures are fixable: new seals, a replacement closer or rehanging to correct gaps often costs tens of pounds per door, not hundreds. A full certified FD30 doorset, supplied and fitted, typically runs from about £500 to over £1,200 depending on finish, glazing and security hardware.
Sometimes. If the door is a genuine fire door with faults such as worn seals, a failed closer or loose hinges, repair is usually possible, but an ordinary door cannot reliably be turned into a certified fire door.
In buildings with a top floor over 11 metres high, communal doors should be checked every three months and flat entrance doors every year. In smaller blocks, the fire risk assessment sets the frequency, and every six to twelve months is common.
Usually yes. When a loft conversion adds a third storey, building control normally requires FD30 doors to the rooms opening onto the staircase, although self closers are not generally required in a single family home.
Tell us what you've got, whether a single door, a block of flats or a commercial building, and we'll arrange a survey and give you a straight, written quote.
Tell us about the doors or the building and we'll come back to you with a straight answer.