Front doors to flats opening on to communal areas should be checked as part of the regular fire safety risk assessment of your building. Your landlord, their agents or other responsible person should do this.
What your landlord must do
Regulations in 2022 brought in additional obligations on landlords about fire doors.
In all buildings containing two or more flats that have communal parts through which residents would need to evacuate in the case of an emergency, residents should be given information every 12 months (or as soon as possible if new) that:
- fire doors should be kept shut when not in use
- residents or their guests should not tamper with self-closing devices
- residents should report any fault or damage immediately to the responsible person
In buildings above 11 metres the responsible person must:
- use ‘best endeavours’ to check all flat entrance fire doors at least every 12 months and
- carry out checks of any fire doors in communal areas at least every 3 months
How checks are carried out
Government guidance on the regulations says that checks should be simple and basic visual checks, without the need for a specialist or tools.
It says that with appropriate instruction, caretakers, managing agents, housing officers and maintenance personnel should be able to do them in the course of routine visits to the building.
More information you might find useful
- Fire Safety Regulations 2022: fire door guidance: GOV.UK
- Who owns and is responsible for the fire door?
- Can my landlord force me to change my front door?
- Who do I use to replace my fire door?
- Do my fire doors need to comply with current building regulations?
- More Frequently Asked Questions on fire safety
