Do communal landing doors have to be freely opening?

[Guest Jacqueline]

Please can you let me know if putting door handles fittings so that the door remains closed as apposed to being able to push it open contravene the fire saftey regulation on communal landing doors in a 21 floor block of flats.

[Sally H]

Current benchmark design guidance recommends that stairways in blocks of flats need to be enclosed in fire-resisting construction to minimise the risk of flames and smoke entering the stairways while they are being used to escape; this means that the doors opening off the stairs at each landing must be capable of providing 30-minute fire resistance (FD30) and be self-closing. (Local Government Group "Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats"). It is not usual for such communal fire doors to have handles/latches.

[Tom Sutton]

Check out Fire safety in purpose-built flats 68.2 and 68.5