Tom Sutton

Why do you need a fire door, is it to protect a means of escape or is it to prevent the spread of fire? The fire door you propose to buy, just says that, it does not give any details of its fire properties and how it should be installed, I would need more details before I could make any comments. I think your father in-law is correct fitting a intumescent fire grill defeats to purpose of the fire door it would prevent the spread of fire but not smoke, so it depends what the fire door is for. If you have a open flue boiler and the ventilation is required for combustion then you need to study Approved Document J: combustion appliances and fuel storage systems.

You could try what I have suggested above or try a solicitor maybe a solicitors letter could have the desired effect but I am not aware of any fire safety law that could help you.

Could he provide an exit from the garden and if so would the means of escape be satisfactory.

Check out https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/422202/9446_Means_of_Escape_v2_.pdf may be helpful.

BS 5499 part 4 says the primary escape route from each room to a final exit should be signed and if you have to make a choice, the shorter route should be choose, if they are both the same, distance then both should be signed. Because you have to assess from each room, then each room will have its own primary escape route which means all escape routes would need signing. I think it is important that unfamiliar escape routes should be signed but if you follow the guidance of the BS then it is more than likely that all escape routes will be signed anyway.

Check out https://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-door-fitting-and-ironmongery/.

Normally the regular ingress/exit from your place of work does not need to be signed only the less common routes and emergency exit luminaires are needed to illuminate those signs. However if required emergency exit lighting should cover all the routes out of the premises to the prescribed levels,. If the rooms are fairly large I would place a luminaire close to each door and then check the level of light to see if any more are required.

No prob

No they do not come with basic locking system this is provided separately and should meet the standards of BS EN 179 and should be easily opened, without the need of a key from the inside.

Normally the regular ingress and exit from your place of work does not need to be signed only the less common routes but emergency exit lighting should cover all the routes out of the premises to the prescribed levels, if required. If the rooms are fairly large I would place a luminaire close to each door and then check the level of light to see if any mose are required.

It is impossible to give a definitive response to your question with a lot more information, a survey and /or plan but I can say in most situations an enclosed area cannot be used for a means of escape route, it has to lead to a place of ultimate safety and dispersal.

Sliding doors and magnetic locked doors on escape routes should meet the standards of BS 7273 part 4 which requires a manual override switch (green MCP) to open the doors if required in an evacuation, with some exception like places of lawful detention but retail premises are not one of them.

I am assuming each flat has its own private entrance/exit, therefore there are no common areas therefore The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 does not apply. The Housing Act will apply but because it is a shared flat, it is not HMO, but The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 does apply and you will require a smoke detector also CO detector depending on the type of heating you have, check the legislation.

A fully certificated fire door is tested as a door set, which is the door and frame. Any other arrangements are known as a nominal fire doors which can be a so called fire door fitted into an existing frame, an upgraded door using fire proofing material or intumescent paint or paper, which can be acceptable in certain situations. It all depends on what the enforcing authority will accept, all will accept a certificated fire door set, and most will accept nominal fire doors, providing they are well fitting and acceptable in the particular situation and carrying documentation proving its fire resistance.

All the freeholders/owners are the Responsible Person as defined by The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and have a duty to conduct a fire risk assessment but assuming you do not employ five or more persons then the FRA does not have to be recorded unless you decide to. If you decide not to record the FRA I am not sure what you can give to the solicitors. You can do the FRA yourselves or employ a fire risk assessor if so check out A Guide to Choosing a Competent Fire Risk Assessor the guidance for your premises is FIRE SAFETY Guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing also https://www.firesafe.org.uk could be useful. I know nothing about asbestos surveys I would suggest you surf the web for information on this subject.

Why do they need a wheelchair walker, can't they use their wheelchairs assisted by a member of staff and refuges?

It all depends on the level of light, when you switch off all the normal lighting, preferably during the hours when natural light is the lowest in your premises, and if the level of light enables you to find the door safely and able to travel along escape routes, then you do not need it, if you find any difficulties, you need emergency exit lighting. Push pad/push bars are only required when large numbers, in excess of about 60 persons, which is generally is considered there may be a problem opening the door in an emergency. Most shops I go in, the latch on the main entrance doors are held open and all you have to do is push or pull it to open, in that situation there is no problems, again if it is inward opening then the exit is limited to 60 persons..

Final exit doors. in most cases, do not need to be fire resisting only if an external means of escape passes the door and you could not move away from it, if fire was emerging, for example external doors opening onto a external fire staircase. You do not say what your property is, if it is flats, then the final exit doors from any flats into the common areas do need to be FD30s doors, but what you have said it most probably would not be necessary.

For full environment guidance around the disposal of Foam Fire Extinguishers, download and read the following document: http://www.fia.uk.com/resourceLibrary/fact-file-39-environmental-guidance-foam-extinguisher-disposal.html

There are no legal barriers to reentering building on fire IMO but not a wise one, there should be a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) for each wheelchair user and the member of staff and the wheelchair user leave together. If there are more wheelchairs than staff then move all the wheelchairs to a protected refuge near a final exit then move them outside when all have been accounted for.

Not being a business you are not subject to the regulations but i believe you have a moral duty to inform the recipient that the items of upholstered furniture does not carry a permanent label and allow him/her to decide but if it was me I would send it to the tip. Check out Fire safety of furniture and furnishings in the home - A Guide to the UK Regulations.

There is no frequency laid down for reviewing the fire risk assessment and The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 article 9 states, any such assessment must be reviewed by the responsible person regularly so as to keep it up to date and particularly if, there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid or there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates including when the premises, special, technical and organisational measures, or organisation of the work undergo significant changes, extensions, or conversions, and where changes to an assessment are required as a result of any such review, the responsible person must make them. Consequently everybody has their own idea on the frequency but twelve months is a common period. Under the same article it says, as soon as practicable after the assessment is made or reviewed, the responsible person must record the information prescribed by paragraph (7) where he employs five or more employees, and I suspect you do not employ anybody therefore you do not need to record the FRA however sometimes it is useful to have a written document to hand to those who may pester you for one but there is no legal requirement. In your premises the appropriate guidance is FIRE SAFETY Guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing and if you check out page 46 you will get a summary of what you need to do which can be clarified by studying the rest of the guide.

Kings Cross was an entirely different situation and the same risks would not apply to this situation, but what is being proposed is not acceptable. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 article 8 lays a duty on the Responsible Person to take such "general fire precautions" as will ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of any of his employees or relevant persons. The "general fire precautions" are explained in article 4 which says (a) measures to reduce the risk of fire on the premises and the risk of the spread of fire on the premises. Adding combustibles in an area where there is is a likely source of ignition would be contrary to those articles and a cupboard holding electric equipment should not be used for storage of combustible items, as you have already explained above.

Windows opening onto common escape route need to be fire resistance and would be fitted with FR glazing and all windows fixed shut. If it is not FR glazing, then fitting a cat flap is not going to jeopardize fire safety but it could be against the tenants agreement.

Further to the above in my opinion the hinges you speak of, seems to have met the standards at the time they were installed and do not require changing unless a new fire door set is fitted.