If you are a property landlord, you may be wondering if you need fire doors for your residential properties. After all, what are fire doors? Do fire doors really matter in domestic properties? That’s what we look at in this blog post to help you learn about fire doors and the standards that your property needs to meet to be fire safe.
Firstly, let’s look at what fire doors are. A fire door is a really important part of your fire safety strategy. When fire doors are installed, maintained and used currently they will stop fires from spreading through your domestic property. The fire door will help give those within the building more time to escape. It will give the emergency services longer to arrive and potentially save your property too.
It is essential that you have the right fire door in place. This is an important responsibility of a property owner, landlord or residential property manager. A fire door should be considered alongside fire detection systems, fire alarms and even sprinkler systems.
There are various components that your fire door needs to be safe. These include the hinges, seal, handles and glazing. All of these things work together to ensure that the fire door works and holds back the fire and smoke. A standard door can warp in a fire. In turn, this will allow smoke and fire to travel through the opening. When you have a fire door in place, with the correct seals, hinges and more it will stop the smoke and fire from spreading as quickly through the property.
As a minimum requirement, the fire doors with your domestic properties should be able to withstand for at least 30 minutes. They are a legal requirement for flats which open up into communal areas that are shared with other tenants. This fire safety equipment matters because they ensure escape routes are protected if a fire was to break out.
You will find that fire doors are specially designed and installed to automatically close behind a person in the event of a fire. This is how they hold back flames and stop the spread the spread of fire and toxic smoke throughout the property. In turn, this is how the escape routes, corridors and other tenant properties are protected in case of a fire.
As a property owner it is a legal requirement that you ensure each premises reach the required standards of fire safety. This is laid out in The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. If you need help understanding why this fire safety equipment matters call us. Want to know more about installing and maintaining your domestic fire doors, please call our domestic fire safety experts now.
