Gordon Davies

With regards your advice Tom to keep inspecting officer up to date,so far it has been a waste of time.On 2 occasions the same fireman has been across and on both occasions has made a remark that staggered me.On his first visit on showing him that the gap qauge could not be used on the hinged side of a fire door,he remarked and I quote (,I would think no gap would be better than too wide a gap).On that first visit I told him there was no signage on 4 corridor doors and none on ground floor doors.After 3 weeks and no signs on the 4 corridor doors I went out and purchased 4 signs and fitted them myself.On his second visit he commented on the fact that he now see's that signs have been put on ground floor doors.He then went on to say and I quote,(There is no sign on the door to the mobility scooter room )..When he said that I was in a state of disbelief.The mobility scooter room does not need a sign as that door is an automatic door opened with a fob. About 6 weeks ago there was a fire on the 6th floor in the block of flats I live in and I was surprised to find that instead of using the dry riser on that floor they were using the dry riser on a lower floor.As I was walking down the stairwell I spotted this and was alarmed to see the self closing stairwell door passing clear over the flat hose which had been passed through.When a fireman then turned on water supply it got as far as the door but could not go any further than the bottom of the door.A fireman coming back up the stairs on seeing this problem yanked on the door handle and pulled it clean off.I did not wait around to see what happened next. So as a concerned tenant is there a company in the North West who would carry out a fire safety assessment for someone like myself.So long as the charge is not a ridiculous one I would be willing, just to get piece of mind pay it myself. If there was such a company they would not need to inspect every floor as they would only need to inspect at the most 2 floors as all corridor doors have an incorrect gap.That is all 20 doors. Many thanks in advance Tom.

Followed Tom's advice and wrote to the Fire and Rescue headquarters in Winsford Cheshire.Then received a visit from two members of the service one of whom was a Fire Safety Inspector.He told me he would walk down to every floor and check out all doors. Then two weeks later I just could not believe what I was seeing.There was a workman using a plane to shave off both the side and top of the door frame.Bearing in mind the fact that ninety per cent of the doors had an incorrect gap, which was over four mm, shaving the door frame is not going to decrease the gap. Not only that but how can you guarantee that you are shaving off the same amount from the whole length of the frame.On the top of the frame you can still see white paint near to the hinged side of the door. This whole project has been farcical.

Many thanks Neil for your reply.The installers certainly do not have the necessary knowledge to carry out the works competently. It is now four months since I posted my letter and the incompetence of the installers stands out a mile.When walking down the stairwell from the top floor,10th, there are three doors which are not fully closing.Also the gaps as measured using the gap gauge on all stairwell doors is incorrect. Also on half of the stairwell fire doors an plain intumescent seal has been fitted and the other half has had a fire and smoke seal fitted.The whole project has been one of inconsistancy. With regards trying the local Fire & Rescue Service I have done that with no success. An officer has been across twice,the station is just across the road,and the first visit more or less gave the installers a slap on the wrist for hanging doors without a closer.The second visit he took photos and sent them to the housing trust but I have no idea what those photos were of.Besides a fireman is there to save lives and fight fires so I would not expect him to know all the rules and regulations regarding fire doors. Once again many thanks.

Hi Harry, The new fire doors have indeed been fitted into existing frames.With regards drawing attention to the problem that is a problem itself.The Asset Manager who is responsible for the project has thanked me for my concerns about safety for tenants but has no wish to correspond with me. So I got in touch with the Fire and Rescue services and a member has sent photos to the Housing Trust. Do not know whether this is because of the photos, but last week two workmen were removing the plain intumescent seal on one door and replaced it with a fire and smoke seal. As an example of how bad the company are,it took three weeks before numbers were put in place on front doors.When I questioned why was told,tenants should know where they live by now. Gordon.

Afternoon Harry, Many thanks for your reply.The incorrect gap is on the top and sides of the doors.Some of the doors have what I would call an inconsistant gap.By that I mean that at some point the gap is at the recommended gap and the rest of the door the gap is incorrect. From my observations with regards the workmanship I do not think the company carrying out the work has had a job on such a scale. They have maybe fitted the occasional fire door but not a block of flats with 60 flats. As there are three blocks that is 180 flats,which means a lot of doors. Gordon.

Having concerns about the shoddy workmanship of a company fitting new doors in the block of flats I live in,that is front door to flat,corridor doors,stairwell doors,shuteroom doors and storage cupboard,I purchased a gap gauge from Safelincs.When I used the gauge I was surprised to find that the gap on the two corridor doors on my floor was so big it virtually swallowed the gap gauge.Out of ten stairwell doors seven of those doors had an incorrect door gap. So simple question,should I be concerned or just simply ignore it.

Thank you green-foam for your answer.What I am at a loss to understand is why was a Danger of Death sign put in place at all when the blocks of flats were built. I suppose I will never ever get the answer to that conundrum.

Many thanks for your reply Tom.Behind the door are many cables for supply of electricity to all flats and my guess is they are high voltage which is why a Danger of Death sign was put in place by Scottish Power. To be honest this is only one of many problems I have with the fitting the new fire doors in the block of flats I live. For instance 7 out of the 10 doors, that is 70%, of doors to stairwells have a fault, Either ill fitting or gap well in excess or 3mm plus or minus 1mm.