For information on how Priority 1 can help with your fire door compliance, please get in touch.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO) requires the identified responsible person to undertake all necessary maintenance on the facilities, equipment and devices which have been provided in connection with fire precautions within the building, or parts of the building for which they are responsible. All facilities, equipment and devices must be subject to a suitable system of maintenance, and be maintained in efficient working order, and in good repair. This provision in the order applies to things like fire alarms, emergency lighting and fire extinguishers but also applies to fire doors and emergency exit doors.

A short piece of regulation, The Fire Safety Act 2021 was recently enacted to clarify which parts of buildings that contain two or more domestic dwellings, apartment blocks, are to be covered by the provisions for RRFSO. The new Act extends the reach of the RRFSO in such buildings to the buildings structure, external walls and all common parts, and to all the doors which separate domestic parts of the premises from the common areas.

So the need to maintain fire doors in good working order and repair through a suitable system of maintenance extends to both doors within common areas and doors to domestic areas from the common parts. For most types of buildings regulation does not make specific what the suitable system of maintenance is, however, new legislation which comes into force at the end of January 2023, The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, will specify the frequency with which a comprehensive examination of the fire doors should be completed. This new regulation is limited in scope to apartment buildings which are 11 meters or five storeys, and above in height.

For these high-rise and medium rise apartment buildings, The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 requires that doors within communal areas of the premises are subject to examination every three months and annually for the doors to apartments. The examination of the doors will review the condition of the door, door frame and all fittings required for the operation of the door, and report on the fitting of both the door and all fire specific elements which have been installed. The subsequent report will identify where changes and improvements are required. The duty to undertake the repairs and maintenance goes back to the maintenance provision within the RRFSO, and as such is a legal requirement.

For buildings which are of a lower height than those in the scope of the 2022 regulation, the assessment of the doors to domestic parts is tied in with the information required for a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. So an examination of apartment doors in these buildings should be completed recently prior to, along with, or subsequent to the completion of the fire risk assessment, and the condition of the doors used to help determine the risk level identified or the building by the fire risk assessment. In identifying a suitable system of maintenance for the doors in common areas of these building it is necessary to look to the British Standards which the enforcing authorities, the fire and rescue services will apply. BS9999 sets out the level of protection which should be provided by fire doors in prescribed locations, whilst BS8214 sets out the recommended frequency and subjects of inspection. Both of these standards are referenced by the Building Engineering Services Association who specify an inspection period for fire doors and fire exit doors of no greater than six months.

Fore information on how Priority 1 can assist you, please get in touch.