Fire doors – their purpose and importance

If you’re in the middle of renovating a property or you’ve embarked on building your own home, it’s very important that you’re fully aware of fire doors’ vital role in the safety of those who live there.

The point of fire doors is literally life-saving. Building regulations stipulate where you should have them in your home for the pure and simple reason that if fire breaks out, the doors are there to resist flames and smoke for a certain amount of time. This provides a life-saving refuge, giving you and other occupants of the home the best chance of getting to safety. 

Fire Door Safety Week

JB Kind is one of hundreds of industry supporters across Britain of Fire Door Safety Week.  Running from September 23-29 this year, this campaign was set up in 2013 by the British Woodworking Federation and the BWF Fire Door Alliance in response to, in the organisation’s own words, “a legacy of fire door neglect”. 

With 334 deaths in the UK in 2017/18 resulting from fire, of which 72 were at Grenfell , so the importance of fire doors is as clear as it ever was.

Around three million fire doors are bought and installed every year in this country, a figure which suggests that more and more people are becoming aware of the need to install fire doors correctly in their properties. 

Key Fire Door Information

But it’s not enough just to fit a fire door in the correct places in your home, these doors need to be correctly installed so as to do their job properly. 

Here is a short summary of useful information to have at your fingertips when you’re preparing to purchase or fit fire doors in your self-build or property renovation. 

1. When looking for fire doors for your home, you’ll notice that many have the following rating: FD30. That means they have been tested by a UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) approved body, to resist fire for a minimum period of 30 minutes. FD60 doors have been tested to resist fire for one hour, and they are more commonly used in bigger commercial buildings. 
2. FD30 fire doors are generally thicker than standard doors, measuring 44-45 mm in thickness, compared with 35-40mm.
3. To work correctly, the fire door must be fitted strictly in accordance with its certification, using the correct frame, intumescent seals and ironmongery.  We advise working with an approved fitter who is a member of an accredited fire door installation scheme, such as FIRAS. 
4. Your local building regulations office will advise as to where in your home you must have fire doors. A rule of thumb is that fire doors are designed to provide protection near areas where fires are more likely to start: eg: kitchens and rooms with flammable electrical equipment. 
5. It’s a good idea to look for doors certified by an independent third-party certification scheme, such as the BWF Fire Door Alliance. 
6. You don’t need to compromise on style to fit a regulation fire door in your home. Many of our designs at JB Kind also come as a fire door, with plenty of glazed options too. 

Here at JB Kind we are very pleased and proud to support Fire Door Safety Week. You can spread the word about this very valuable campaign on Twitter, using the hashtag: #FireDoorSafetyWeek. 

For more on fire doors, check out the dedicated section on our website, which gives comprehensive information on different fire door designs, installation and other useful facts.