Does my external door need to be a fire door in a block of flats?

[chrishesky]

Recently I have been wishing to replace my front door as my neighbour upstairs had a leak but the insurance will not cover a new door. I currently live in an ex council flat and am the leaseholder.

I want to replace the current door which has a 3' x 2' safety glass pain in it to a more modern composite door. Do I need to adhere to some form of fire regs on the door? The block I live in has 4 floors with four flats on each floor with the front doors opening onto a large balcony area which is outside and exposed to the elements.

I have been trying to contact the council planning but keep going round in circles.

Regards

Chris Hesky

[Interlaken]

If the current front door is not a fire door then you do not have to fit one in an existing building - especially the type you describe.

[MisterB]

if the door opened onto an enclosed corridor, then it is more likely to require an FD of the appropriate standard. as you open onto a balcony which is not enclosed then there will be no requirement for a FD

also in most other circumstances if your current door IS the original door and isn't a FD then there wont be a requirement to fit a FD.

[Tipper]

I don't agree.

The purpose of a fire door is to protect an escape route from a fire behind that door. So, if a flat was on fire you would want to be able to escape from other units passed that door so it should be a fire door because even though it is an outside balcony it is in effect a protected escape route for other occupants.

The best people to ask at the local building inspectors, not planning.

[MisterB]

a place of relative safety is not the same as a protected route ???? why would someone need to pass the door to escape a fire or smoke that isn't in their own property? what about the windows on the same route? window heights? it is unlikely that when the flats were built that there was a requirement for a FD, as there was a balcony open to the external air and would have been classed as a place of relative safety, with no need for a protected route. I would never categorically say no unless I had inspected it or knew all the relevant information, for example - is it single staircase, how wide is the balcony? but I am pretty sure my initial answer is correct without trawling through building regs.