Nominal Fire Doors

[Adam]

Hello

The school i work in was built over 40 years ago and still has the original fire doors. A company was appointed to assess the doors and failed them all because they had no lables/plugs. They recommended that they all needed replacing. I'm no expert but can these doors be listed as nominal fire doors as long they have a solid timber core? What would be the other conditions?

Am I right in saying:

- 3 hinges of fire resistant construction 
- fire and smoke seals
- no damage to the door
- suitable frame and no excessive gaps

If some of the doors have deficincies can they be upgraded, for example changing the hinges, adding smoke/fire strips, increasing the size of the rebate on the frame? If so, what qualifies a person to carry this out? 

Finally, if the gap beneath the door is greater than 10mm and there is no smoke seal can a hardwood strip be glued/screwed to the bottom of the door to reduce the gap?

Thanks in advance.

[AnthonyB]

I'd take that report with a pinch of salt, note that many doors in Schools don't need to be fire doors either. I work with three major Grammar Schools with large campuses of buildings up to and over 100 years old and doors were a big issue.

As part of detailed fire risk assessments it was possible to exclude many doors completely; adjust, repair & upgrade others and yes, in some cases replace them.

Based on several factors that can mitigate in the FRA it's possible to spread works over an extended period to fit in with 5 & 10 year capital budgets - particularly if the doors, as described, were compliant at the time of install.

There is no requirement for the doors to be marked even if new (although it makes sense)