New fire safety regulations should provide more clarity for residents of high-rise apartment blocks about where responsibly lies for ensuring fire doors are safely maintained. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, which came into force in January, make it obligatory for the ‘responsible person’ in all multi-occupied residential buildings in England which are more than 11 metres high to carry out quarterly checks of all fire doors in communal areas and annual checks of all flat entrance doors which lead onto a building’s common areas.
The ruling includes a requirement that occupants should be informed of the importance of fire doors to the safety of their building, to enable them to report any damage or incorrect use – something which nearly half of the UK public said they felt they were not entitled to do.
Figures on the public’s understanding of fire doors were released in a report carried out by the British Woodworking Federation as part of last year’s Fire Door Safety Week.
They show that a staggering 49% of the populace didn’t feel it was their place to report issues with fire doors and that 44 per cent wouldn’t take action if they saw one propped open, as they wouldn’t know who to report it to.
Worryingly, 15% of respondents said they thought closing a fire door would stop it working, with almost exactly half saying they thought more education about the role and functionality of fire doors was needed.
While many of the checks which the responsible person is obliged to carry out can be done without input from a fire safety specialist like CDS, others require expert input.
These include checking for damage to glazing, air grilles or door closers and ensuring seals and hinges are correctly fitted. Many facilities managers feel more comfortable outsourcing the responsibility of such a complex task to a fire safety specialist from the get-go.
Our Fire Door Safety Services team can provide a cling-wrapped answer to managing the hassle and complexity of ensuring compliance with the new law, particularly in large, complex and multi-staircase buildings or for multiple sites. The service can be used to carry out regular quarterly and annual checks in their entirety or as a follow-on service when issues are identified following an initial inspection by the facilities manager.
We’ve been designing, supplying, installing and maintaining complex fire safety detection systems in multi-storey residential blocks, many with numerous lifts, for several decades, protecting the occupants and ensuring the responsible persons comply with fire safety regulations. These include buildings for student, private rental and housing association tenants across the UK.
Find out how CDS Fire Door Safety Services can help you comply with the new regulations: enquires@cdsys.co.uk
