Entrance door

[Guest Barney]

We are having our front door replaced with a composite door ( non fire door ) that opens onto a path. Our management company say after the grenfell tower  fire it needs to be a fire door. Is this true?

[Neil Ashdown MAFDI]

The reason entrance doors to individual flats are required to be fire resisting and cold smoke restricting is to protect the common area (outside the door) from the effects of fire and smoke. This is so that other people can use that part of the common area to escape safely.

You say that your door opens onto a path. Is the path outside in the open or inside part of the building and who would benefit by being able to use the area outside your flat entrance door in the event of a fire? By providing this information to your management company they should be able to tell you if the door needs to be a fire resisting door, and if so why.

[Guest Bean]

If you are replacing the entrance door with a fire resistant door does this door have to be an external door or would an internal fire resistant door suffice?

This is for a flat whose entrance door opens onto a common staircase. I'm not sure whether this makes any difference but the flat is within a grade 2 listed building. 

[Tom Sutton]

Internal and external doors is a description where a door is located not its fire resistance properties. A flat whose entrance door opens onto a common staircase, the door needs to be a FD30s fire door and in the case for a grade 2 listed buildings they cannot be modified without first obtaining Listed Building Consent through the relevant local planning authority, so they should be contacted.

[Guest Sinead]

Hi, If an existing fire exit door now needs to be used as an entrance door in a commercial unit, buzz entry system etc. Is it sufficient to have a door with entry buzz system and break glass unit along with a new door with glass for visibility which is heat resistant. Thanking you

[Tom Sutton]

Assuming the exit door doesn’t need to be fire resistant to a 30 minutes standard, also the exit width is satisfactory and it is installed according to BS 7273 part 4 then it should be acceptable, check it out with your fire risk assessor.