Check the fire doors in a block of flats

Regulation 10 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 sets fire door duties for the responsible person of a building that has two or more sets of domestic premises and common parts through which residents would need to evacuate. That covers purpose-built blocks and conversions. Flat entrance doors count as part of the common parts.

Which blocks need regular checks

Every such block must give residents information about fire doors. The checks apply only where the top storey is above 11 metres, which is typically a building of more than four storeys. Height is measured to the top storey in line with Appendix D of Approved Document B.

Below 11 metres the Regulations do not require the checks. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 still requires fire doors, including flat entrance doors, to be covered by your fire risk assessment and kept in efficient working order and good repair (Article 17).

Who carries out the checks

The responsible person for the common parts does the checks or arranges them. In a block of flats that is usually the freeholder, a managing agent or a residents' management company.

Check communal fire doors every 3 months

Communal fire doors include doors to stairways and lobbies, doors that divide long corridors, and doors to plant rooms, service cupboards and risers. Lift landing doors are not included.

A door to a plant room or riser may be self-closing or kept locked shut. Check a self-closing one in the same way as the others. If a corridor or lobby door is held open on a magnetic hold-open device, use the test button to close it rather than pulling it off the magnet.

Check flat entrance doors every 12 months

You need access to each flat so you can check the door from both sides. Agree a date with each resident in advance and offer a range of times so they can be there. Except in very small blocks, you are unlikely to check every door in one visit.

If a resident does not allow access, keep evidence of the steps you took to arrange it, such as your letters and their replies. Where a resident persistently refuses, you may in the end need to consider legal action.

What else to check on each door

The checks need no tools. As well as the points above, look for:

• a fire-resisting flat entrance door that a resident has replaced with a door that is not fire-resisting; if you are in doubt, ask the resident to confirm the new door is fire-resisting, was fitted by a competent person, and to give you its technical details
• a letterbox that is jammed open, or one fitted to a door that did not have one before without confirmation that it suits a fire-resisting door
• cracked or damaged glazing, and damage to any air transfer grille
• damage to the frame or surrounding wall, such as a hole where a lock was removed

To test a self-closer, open the door fully and let go, then open it to about 15 degrees and let go. Both times the door must close fully into its frame, overcoming the latch and any friction with the floor.

You do not have to replace a door that is undamaged and in working order only because it falls short of the standard for new doors, and a door with no intumescent strips or certification is not automatically unfit. Your fire risk assessment judges whether a door is adequate. The Regulation 10 checks make sure it stays that way.

Keep a record

For every period of 12 months you must keep a record of the steps you took to check flat entrance doors, including, where a resident did not allow access, the steps you took to try to gain it. Keep a dated record of each communal door check as well, so you can show the fire and rescue authority that the checks happened. A checklist for each door works well: it records the outcome, the action needed, who will do it and by when.

Tell residents about fire doors

Every block with two or more flats and common parts must give residents fire door information, whatever its height.

The information must say that fire doors should be kept shut when not in use, that residents and their guests should not tamper with self-closing devices, and that residents should report any fault or damage to you immediately. Give it to each new resident as soon as reasonably practicable after they move in, and to all residents within every period of 12 months. It also helps you win access for the annual checks.

What happens if you do not comply

Failing to comply with Regulation 10 is an offence under Article 32 of the Order where the failure places one or more relevant persons, such as residents, at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.