Fire safety is not just a formality—it’s a legal and moral responsibility. Whether you’re a landlord managing flats, or a facilities manager for a public building like a school, hospital, or office, properly installed and maintained fire doors are crucial for protecting lives and meeting government regulations.
At UK Doors & Shutters, we specialise in fully certified fire door installation across the UK. Our team helps landlords, housing providers, and public sector clients meet legal obligations while ensuring their premises are as safe as possible. In this article, we explain why fire doors matter, what regulations apply, and how we ensure your property stays compliant.
Why Fire Doors Are So Important
A fire door is designed to contain fire and smoke, giving people time to escape and reducing damage to the rest of the building. Unlike a standard door, a fire door is constructed from fire-resistant materials, with specialist seals and components that block flames and smoke for up to 30 or 60 minutes, depending on its rating.
In a real emergency, every second counts. Fire doors buy precious time for building occupants and first responders. Without them, fire can spread rapidly through corridors and stairwells—cutting off exit routes and endangering lives.
Who Has Legal Responsibility?
If you’re in charge of a residential or commercial building, you’re likely the Responsible Person under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This means you must ensure all fire safety systems—including fire doors—are installed correctly and maintained regularly.
In 2023, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations introduced even stricter rules for buildings in England. For example, landlords of multi-occupied residential buildings over 11 metres in height must now:
- Check all communal fire doors at least every three months
- Check all flat entrance doors once per year
Fire doors must be third-party certified and installed by trained professionals. Failure to meet these obligations can result in prosecution, heavy fines, or even the invalidation of your building insurance.
What Makes a Fire Door Compliant?
A fire door must meet specific standards to perform effectively in a fire. It’s not just about the door leaf itself—every component matters. From the intumescent strips around the frame to the hinges, handles, and self-closing mechanism, everything must be fire-rated and correctly fitted.
At UK Doors & Shutters, we install FD30 and FD60 doors (providing 30 or 60 minutes of fire resistance, respectively) to full BS 8214 standards. Each installation is documented and certified, giving you complete peace of mind and evidence for your fire risk assessments.
We also make sure doors close properly, latch securely, and have no gaps wider than 3mm around the edges—details that are often missed in DIY or poor-quality installations.
To learn more about certification and standards, the BM TRADA website offers a useful overview of third-party certified fire doors and components.
Common Properties That Require Fire Doors
We regularly install fire doors in a wide range of properties across the UK, including:
- HMOs and rental flats
- Schools, colleges, and universities
- Hospitals, GP surgeries, and care homes
- Hotels and guest houses
- Offices, warehouses, and retail buildings
Fire doors are typically required for:
- Flat entrances
- Communal corridors
- Stairwell access
- Plant rooms or service cupboards
- Kitchens in commercial buildings
If you’re unsure where fire doors are needed in your building, we can carry out a free survey and advise based on current fire risk regulations.
What Our Fire Door Installation Includes
When you choose UK Doors & Shutters, you get a complete, professional service. We start with a site survey to assess your requirements and recommend the right fire door ratings and specifications. From there, we take care of delivery, installation, and certification.
Our engineers are fully trained and experienced in fire door fitting, and we only use third-party certified doors and hardware. We also offer fire door maintenance and inspection plans to help you stay compliant over time.
Nationwide Coverage with Local Support
With teams located across major cities including Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, London, and Leeds, we’re able to offer fast and reliable installation across the UK. Whether you need one fire door fitted in a block of flats or an entire public building upgraded to meet fire safety regulations, we can help.
Our fire door clients include housing associations, private landlords, NHS trusts, schools, retailers, and office building managers.
Fire Door Failures Can Cost Lives
Sadly, fire investigations following incidents like the Grenfell Tower fire have revealed multiple failures in fire door design, installation, and maintenance. In fact, the Independent Review of Building Regulations led by Dame Judith Hackitt found that fire doors were often the weak link in many buildings’ fire protection strategies.
That’s why it’s never enough to simply buy a fire door—you must ensure it’s installed correctly, checked regularly, and replaced when damaged.
Stay Compliant, Stay Safe
UK Doors & Shutters is committed to helping landlords, property managers, and facilities teams meet their fire safety responsibilities with expert fire door installations that meet all the latest regulations. We offer:
- Certified FD30 and FD60 fire doors
- Expert installation to BS 8214 standards
- Free site surveys and quotes
- Ongoing maintenance options
If you’re responsible for a building where fire safety matters—and that’s almost every building—let us help you ensure your fire doors are doing their job properly.
Get a Free Fire Door Quote Today
To book a fire door installation or speak to one of our experts, contact us here. We’re happy to provide advice, arrange a site visit, and help you stay compliant and protected.
Fire safety starts with prevention. A professionally installed fire door could make all the difference and the team here at UK Doors & Shutters are leaders in fire door installation, repairs and servicing throughout Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and the North West
