Can I just retrofit a fireproof door leaf?

[Guest Niamh]

Hi,

I am refurbishing an apartment and need to install a series of firedoors to separate the rooms from the stairwell. Is it possible to retain the existing doorframes and purchase new door leafs? Is it possible to attach the intumbescent seal to the door leaf instead of the frame?

[Safelincs]

Hi Niamh

If you can establish that the frame is itself fireproof you can buy made-to-measure fire door leafs and yes, you can fit the seals to the door rater than the frame.

Harry

[Tom Sutton]

There are two types of fire door a nominal fire door, which is a door an assessor considered meets the requirements and a certified fire door set (door and frame) which has documentation that guarantees the door meets the requirements. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-doors/ to understand the difference, because if you are refurbishing an apartment and building control is involved it will be the BCO who decides which fire door s/he will accept.

Check out http://www.asdma.com/bpg.html for the best practice guide.

[Guest RolandC]

On behalf of our client we specified the removal of existing FD30 and FD60 fire doors and replaced them with new, this was the
recommendation from the FRA. The 3 yearly review was carried out recently by a different FRA and now requires the frames to be changed also. However, the existing frames were compliant with current legilstion when installed and are made from softwood ( we think Hemlock).

Because we have specified the change of doors only and installed cold smoke seals and intumiscent strips, should the frames have been chaged to meet current legislation? Or as a retrospective item left as they are.

Regards, Roland

[Tom Sutton]

If you are upgrading/refurbishing a premises and need to replace fire doors then you should fit certified fire door sets (fire door and frame) and you will have documentation/certification to prove to the enforcing authority that the fire resistance of the fire door meets that specified.

Under certain circumstances, assuming it is a FD30 door, you could fit only the fire door leaf, for instance, if a fire door is damaged and the frame is in good order you could make a case to the enforcing authority that fitting only the fire door leaf would be acceptable. However it would be up to you to make a case that the finish fire door would meet a 30 minutes fire resistance standard.

Any FD60 fire doors you need to replace with certified fire door sets (door and frame) and you will find the frame will be made of hardwood.

In the case of listed buildings there is a third possible option the use of intumescent materials but that is a specialist field.

If you have fire doors installed to a previous British standard (BS 476 part 8) then you can make a good argument that the do not need replacing until they fall into a bad state of repair and therefore need replacing.