Fire door inspection in Hanwell
Low-rise blocks, shared stairs and the doors people stop noticing.
Get a priceMost people know Hanwell for the flight of locks on the Grand Union Canal and for Brunel's viaduct over the Brent valley. The buildings round about are mostly much quieter, and so are most of the doors we look at here.
A lot of the housing is low and the blocks are small. That affects what the law asks for, and it affects what we find.
Under 11 metres
Many of the flats in Hanwell are in two, three or four storey blocks and in houses that have been divided. Those blocks are often under 11 metres.
Below that height the fixed schedule in the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 does not apply. Quarterly checks of the shared doors and yearly checks of the flat doors are not set down as a rule.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 still applies. Someone is the responsible person for the shared parts, and fire doors have to be kept working. So a lot of people in smaller blocks are doing the same checks without the rule telling them to.
The doors in a small block
A small block with one stair has a few doors that carry all the weight.
The door at the bottom of the stair, or the door from each flat onto the landing, shuts in the face of whatever is going on in that flat. Those are the ones we spend most time on.
Then there are the cupboards. Electric and gas meters, a fuse board, a bin store under the stairs. They often have flimsy doors that nobody has looked at since the building was built. The cupboard under the stair in particular is a problem, because it is a place where things burn and where the escape route is right over the top.
The shared stair
If a block has a single stair, that stair is how everyone gets out. The doors on to it matter more than anywhere else.
We check that each one closes by itself and latches. We check there are no gaps, no old locks cut into the edge and no frames full of screw holes where a bell or an entry system was fitted and removed.
Where there are glazed panels beside or above the doors, we look at the glass too. Some has a fire rating mark etched into the corner. A lot of it does not.
Doors in houses of multiple occupation
Some houses in the area are let to several unrelated people who share a kitchen and a bathroom. The doors inside such a house are different. A bedroom door in a shared house needs to hold back fire while the people next door get out.
If you let a house like that, find out whether it needs a licence from the council. Licence conditions can mention fire doors, and the council can ask to see the record.
What the report looks like
One page per door in a small block, with photos. A short summary at the front with the numbers. For a block with a dozen doors, that is a short report that fits in an email.
Cost and travel
A small building starts from around £250 plus VAT. We come from Luton, so the cost is lower if we can do several buildings in one trip. If you manage more than one block, tell us when you ask for a price.
Questions we get asked
The block is three storeys. Do the 2022 regulations apply?
Only if the building is over 11 metres. Measure it. If it is under, the Fire Safety Order still applies.
We have a meter cupboard on the landing. Does the door count?
Yes, it is part of the fire separation. A locked cupboard door does not need a closer, but it does need to be in good order.
Send the postcode and a rough number of doors. We will come back with a price the same day.
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