General Fire Safety Information

Key Information for Residents:

Please ensure that your household is aware that:

• Flat front doors must be self-closing.
• Fire doors must be kept shut when not in use.
• Residents and guests must not tamper with self-closing devices or prop doors open.
• Residents should report any faulty communal fire doors to Jennings & Barrett immediately.
  
  • Tenants of Jennings & Barrett's Lettings Management properties (tenants with an AST agreement through Jennings & Barrett) should report issues with their Front Flat Doors to Jennings & Barrett immediately).
• All Leaseholders should ensure that any tenants are providing with this information as soon as reasonably possible.
• Where you wish to alter or change your front door, you must ask the Responsible Person for permission via Jennings & Barrett to ensure that any new door does not negatively impact the overarching fire risk assessment for the building.

The purpose of the aforementioned regulations is to emphasise the importance that flat front doors must be effectively self-closing.

There is no need for all existing flat entrance doors to satisfy the current standards for flat entrance doors in new blocks of flats. The requirement is that the fire performance of the door must be adequate to address the risk to residents from fire.

• A door that satisfied the standards of a fire-resisting flat entrance door at the time that the block was built, or when the door was manufactured, will continue to provide adequate protection, provided that the door is undamaged and that gaps between the door and the frame are not too large.
• The absence of intumescent strips and smoke seals, and/or the absence of any form of certification for the door, does not imply that the door is unfit for purpose.
• Flat entrance doors must be checked annually to comply with Fire Safety (England) regulations, even if the block is purpose-built.
• Flat front doors are included within the meaning of "common parts".

Responsibility for fire door checks belongs to: 

Flat entrance doors in buildings below 11m:

• The Responsible Person for the unit: The owner of the demised unit.

Flat entrance doors in buildings above 11m: 

• The Responsible Person for the building must ensure that these are carried out, using best endeavours.
• The Responsible Person for the unit: The owner of the demised unit.

Communal fire doors in buildings above 11m:

• The Responsible Person(s) for the building must carry these out at least every three months.

The Law:

• In a block of flats, there must be suitable fire precautions in place to make sure that the common parts are safe to use as a means of escape in the event of fire. These are determined by a fire risk assessment, which are required for all blocks of flats.
• Fire-resisting doors (fire doors) should be maintained, kept in good working order and in good repair. Defects can occur over time that do not materially undermine the ability of the doors to adequately prevent fire and smoke spread. A Fire risk assessment should verify if the fire door remains adequate.
• Where it is found that the existing door is inadequate and needs to be replaced, this must be done by a competent person (either via a contractor registered with the Competent Person Scheme, or following building regs approval).
  
  • Replacement of doors should occur in line with Building Safety Regulations.

High Rise Residential Buildings:

• Fire door replacement works in High Rise Residential Buildings require approval from the Building Safety Regulator.

Types of Fire Doors in Blocks of Flats: 

1. Flat entrance doors

Most fires in blocks of flats occur within the flats themselves. The flat entrance door prevents the spread of fire and smoke into the common parks, and ensures the safety of other residents.

2. Doors to stairways, corridors and lobbies

These doors keep stairways, lobbies, and corridors free from fire and smoke. This enables them to be safely used by residents and others who might need to leave the building during a fire. They also assist firefighters during firefighting operations.

3. Sub-dividing doors in corridors: 

Sub-dividing doors limit the spread of fire and smoke throughout longer corridors.

4. Plant room doors, cupboard doors and service riser doors: 

These protect electrical distribution equipment, and can prevent fire and smoke spread from travelling through shafts and vertical passages.

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