Ealing holds a very large stock of Victorian and Edwardian houses converted into flats, and that building type produces the most common and most consequential fire door problem in London: an original panelled door serving as a flat entrance door onto a communal stair, in a building whose escape strategy depends on it.
Why the flat entrance door matters most
In a converted house the communal stair is usually the only escape route and it is shared. The flat entrance door is what keeps a fire inside the flat and keeps the stair usable for everybody else. If it does not hold, the single escape route fills with smoke and the strategy for the whole building fails. That is why it is the door surveys concentrate on.
Original doors
An original panelled door is not a fire door and cannot be made into one by fitting seals. Documented upgrade systems exist with test evidence, retaining the original leaf where it has heritage value, and they are engineered work. Where there is no heritage argument, a certified doorset is the straightforward answer and is usually cheaper than the upgrade.
What the door needs to do
Hold for its required period, restrict cold smoke where the guidance asks for it, close and latch by itself every time, and be fitted into a frame that is properly fixed. Self closing is the requirement most often lost, because residents dislike a door that shuts hard behind them and closers get disconnected or wound down until the latch no longer engages.
Who is responsible
The person with control of the common parts is responsible for the common parts and for the flat entrance doors as they affect them. Leaseholders often own the doors, which makes this a lease and a management question as well as a fire safety one, and resolving it is frequently the hardest part of remediating a converted building.
Questions people ask about fire doors ealing
Who enforces fire safety in Ealing?
The London Fire Brigade, as the fire and rescue authority for Greater London.
Can a leaseholder refuse a door replacement?
It depends on the lease and on the enforcement position. Where the door affects the common escape route, the responsible person's duty does not go away because the door is demised.
Does a two flat conversion need fire doors?
The escape strategy decides. A shared escape route almost always means the entrance doors onto it have to perform, and the residents information duties apply to buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises.