What Type of Building Needs Fire Doors?

Fire doors are an essential part of many buildings, as they are designed to prevent fires and smoke from spreading. This allows you more time to escape the building and can help keep other areas safe. These doors should be considered an integral part of your fire protection methods. 

How Fire Doors Work

A fire door is made from specific materials that withstand fire and heat. Depending on the type of door, it will hold for 30 or 60 minutes and has a special type of strip around the door. As soon as the heat hits the door, these intumescent strips expand and seal the room. Due to this feature, you must have the door closed when the fire breaks out, as it will not close once the strips have expanded. 

Due to this, an auto-closing door is a must for any fire door. It’s also a good idea to post a warning that will let people know that it’s a fire door so they will not open it.

What Buildings Should Use Fire Doors?

According to the law, you must have fire doors installed in any non-domestic properties, including commercial buildings, public buildings, and residential flats or anywhere multiple families can live. 

Even when fire doors are not required, it’s a good idea to include them in your fire safety plan, as they can save both lives and buildings. 

Where to Use Fire Doors

Your local council can inform you of where you are required to place fire doors, but it’s also a good idea to have them whether or not it is required by law. Ideally, you should place a door to any room that leads off of a stairwell. It’s also important that the garage attached to the house is separated by a fire door. 

In a block of flats, each flat should have a fire door between the entrance of the flat and the common area. However, if the flat is over 4.5 metres above ground level, you’ll be required by law to use a fire rated door as a front door for the flat, plus each habitable room. This is not required on ground floor flats. 

Get a Fire Risk Assessment

To find out where you should place fire doors and what type you need, a fire risk assessment is a good idea. This will also indicate if you need to take any other fire precautions and can help prevent future damage and injury. 

If you’re looking for fire doors, you should talk to Thoroughbred Doors. We offer a range of highly rated safety doors that will withstand fire for 30 or 60 minutes, depending on your needs.