Help your tenants feel safe with our fire safety checklist

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Fire Doors:

Fire safety is one of the most important factors for landlords to consider when it comes to making sure their tenant’s accommodation is kept safe. Howden’s comprehensive guide provided here focuses on providing the information you need to create a safe environment for your tenants.

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005¹, landlords have the responsibility to keep their properties and tenants safe.  The ‘responsible person’ has a legal duty of responsibility for fire safety and for complying with the Fire Safety Order on their premises. Landlords must take reasonable steps to reduce the risk from a fire and make sure people can safely escape in the event of a fire. The responsible person must take appropriate measures that will limit the spread of fire should one occur, including the installation and maintenance of fire doors.

Fire doors are a lifeline. When properly fitted and correctly maintained, they can provide people with vital time to safely escape from both fire and smoke. A fire door helps to ensure that if a fire breaks out it will be contained in the compartment in which it started. A fire door will keep fire and smoke trapped for a defined period of time, allowing individuals enough time to escape from the building via alternative routes. It will not fulfil this function, however, if it is damaged or left propped open.

Different fire door specifications provide varying protection time. An FD30 door will offer up to 30 minutes of fire resistance and an FD60 will ensure that there is up to 60 minutes of protection. Fire doors alone will not provide the necessary protection in the event of a fire. They will only be effective if installed with the correct hardware – you can find out what makes up a fire door and more in our Fire Safety Hub.

Figures show that 28% of tenants do not trust their landlord to understand and implement all the necessary fire safety measures in their building². Our fire door safety guide is a helpful source of information you can use to educate your tenants in understanding their landlord’s role and responsibilities and to alleviate any of their concerns surrounding fire safety awareness.

Fire doors are not the same as normal doors; they have been carefully engineered to maximise fire safety. Make sure all fire doors are installed by a competent and experienced fitter. Fitting a fire door incorrectly will compromise the door’s protection and both the property and lives could be at risk.

Maintaining high standards of fire door safety does not need to be difficult or costly. Explore our fire safety hub to find a series of useful articles that are full of information and advice on fire safety and how to keep your premises safe for tenants. Read our top tips on buying high quality, certified fire doors and ironmongery from reputable and trusted suppliers.

Download the fire doors safety guide

Howdens Joinery Co.

^[1] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1541/contents/made

² https://firedoorsafetyweek.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/101-facts-about-fire-doors-Fire-Door-Safety-Week-2017.pdf

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