Fire doors in a domestic 3 storey house

[Sean Rowcliffe]

Hello, we have a 3 story residential detached home.  The build was completed in late 2006 and there’s buildings control sign off from the local authority in late 2007.  The doors to the habitation areas are heavy and 44mm thick as opposed to non hab doors which are thinner.

I have been advised the doors are not compliant because the inside trim of the door frames isn’t thick enough.  Appreciate that the frame is part of the “fire door” but is this likely to be correct. I was advised I would need to get a carpenter out to rip out the interior trim on the habitation doors and replace with thicker trim which would lengthen the time for a fire to spread.

 

Also suggested that the present doors could be an insurance issue if there was a fire.  I have lived here for 10 years.  I have not touched/degraded the doors in any way.  Never been asked about fire doors in any insurance form,

 

intrigued as the doors/frames seem to have been signed off by building control.

 

thanks for any help.

[AnthonyB]

Who is advising this and for what purpose? Is this a single private dwelling?

[NickT]

Hi Sean

I believe the trim you are referring to is what I would call a loose stop. These fit to the frame to form the rebate that the door leaf closes against.

Thicker stops were fitted during the 80s & 90s as existing doors were upgraded and the thicker 1” thick stop used was believed to improve the integrity of the door set.

These days with rigorous testing this stop is considered suitable at a minimum of 12mm thick by 25mm wide.

If my understanding is correct, it sounds like the advice you have received is seated in the past and not relevant to a door set manufactured in 2006.

[Neil Ashdown MAFDI]

Or maybe they refer to the architrave?  Table 2 at section 9 of BS 8214: 2016 requires architraves to be 15mm thick in some situations.