As part of Fire Door Safety Week, which is running 23 – 27 September 2024, we’re sharing important reminders on how to use fire doors correctly.
We’re also asking you to let us know straight away if you spot faults with fire doors where you live.
Last year, we inspected 9,000 fire doors across the buildings we manage and invested £3.8m replacing fire doors.
Tania Emery, A2Dominion’s Building Safety Director, said: “Fire doors are one the most crucial preventative fire measures in buildings, as they can hold back fire from a home. Not only can this help to save lives, but it can also protect homes too.
“It’s important to not prop open fire doors in communal spaces, or to homes. And, if you spot or suspect any problems with a fire door where you live, please report it to us as soon as possible so we can investigate it and carry out any repairs where needed.”
Top tips for using fire doors correctly
- Don’t leave a fire door wedged or propped open
- Keep access to fire doors clear and free from obstruction
- If a fire door doesn’t close, report it to us immediately
- Never carry out any repairs or work on your fire door – contact us if this is something you were planning to do
- Never disconnect an automatic closing device – the door is useless if it remains open, and it will allow the spread of smoke and fire
- Don’t remove kitchen or other internal fire doors
- If you’re fitting new carpets, make sure the door still closes smoothly – if it catches on the carpet, consider fitting rising hinges. Don’t trim the door
- Don’t make new openings in fire doors for cat flaps or letter boxes without seeking advice from us.
In 2023, research carried out by the British Woodworking Federation, as part of their Fire Door Safety Week campaign, found 57% of the UK public couldn’t spot a problem with a fire door, leading to a failure to report issues.
What are fire doors?
Fire doors are designed to:
- Withstand a fire for a period of time. This is normally between 30 and 60 minutes
- Protect crucial escape routes so that people can escape the building safely
- Automatically close behind you to form a barrier
- Limit the spread of fire and smoke from one part of a building to another.
Ensuring our buildings are safe from fire
In 2019 we began our fire safety remediation programme to ensure that our buildings comply with new government safety regulations, and we’ve invested £38m in improving fire safety at our buildings.
As part of the programme, we’ve been carrying out regular Fire Risk Assessments and inspecting fire doors in our buildings.
Reporting fire door issues to us
We have dedicated teams, and work with fire safety experts to ensure our buildings are as safe as they can be from fire.
If you notice anything that you think could be wrong with a fire door in your building, please contact us right away.
You can also contact your local fire service for advice.