Does my house front door need to be a fire door?

No — single-family house front doors not regulated as fire doors. Fire door requirements apply only to flats in multi-occupancy buildings + HMOs + protected stair doors in shared circulation.

Can I keep my existing flat door if it's old?

Only if upgrade demonstrates equivalent FD30S performance (intumescent paint + edge seals + fire-rated ironmongery + smoke seals + self-closer + Fire Engineer sign-off). Most original doors can be upgraded — but some are too thin or damaged to certify; in those cases replacement required.

Who pays for fire door replacement?

Leaseholder pays for own flat door (under lease terms typically). Building Safety Act 2022: qualifying leaseholders capped at £15,000 (£10,000 outside London) total contribution to all building safety remediation including doors over 5-year period. Doors below threshold normally leaseholder cost.

Flat Front Door Fire Resistance London 2026 | Builderr

What Fire Resistance Does My London Flat Front Door Need?

London flat front door fire resistance: FD30S minimum (30-minute fire resistance + smoke seal), applies to all flats in multi-occupancy buildings. FD60S required in Higher Risk Buildings (18m+ or 7+ storeys) under Building Safety Act 2022. Self-closer + intumescent seal + smoke seal + cold smoke threshold mandatory. Listed building flats: heritage door retrofit upgrades accepted with intumescent paint + edge seals.

FD30S baseline requirement

Fire Safety Order 2005 (Regulatory Reform Order) + Building Regulations Approved Document B require flat entrance doors in multi-occupancy buildings to provide 30-minute fire resistance + smoke control: FD30S. Tested to BS 476 part 22 or BS EN 1634-1 (integrity + smoke leakage). Specification: 44mm fire-rated door leaf + fire-rated frame (lipped or rebated stop) + 3 hinges minimum (fire-rated grade 13) + mortice lock fire-rated + smoke seal at threshold + intumescent strip in groove all 4 edges + smoke brush seal + self-closer (overhead arm Briton 2003 / Dorma TS83 / Geze TS5000 or concealed Justor JTS). Third-party certification label on door edge mandatory. £450–£1,250 supplied + installed factory-finished.

FD60S for HRBs

Higher Risk Buildings (18m+ or 7+ storeys, BSA 2022): flat front doors FD60S — 60-minute fire resistance + smoke. Same specification principles as FD30S but heavier door leaf (50–54mm), heavier-duty seals, possibly twin-leaf for wider openings. £750–£1,850 supplied + installed. Often retrofitted as building-wide programme by Accountable Person — individual leaseholders may need to allow access + contribute via service charge under Building Safety Act 2022 cost protections (qualifying leaseholders capped contributions).

Heritage + listed building retrofit

Grade II listed + conservation area flats often have original 19th/early-20th century panelled doors that owners want retained. Solutions to achieve FD30S without replacement: (1) intumescent paint (Envirograf E-FFI, Nullifire SC902) to inside face — 30-minute fire resistance achieved on solid timber door 35mm+ thick — £180–£385 supplied + applied; (2) intumescent edge seals retrofit into routed grooves in all 4 edges — £85–£185; (3) replace lock + hinges with fire-rated equivalents — £350–£650; (4) new fire-rated frame + self-closer — £450–£850; (5) Building Control approval based on Fire Engineer assessment report — £450–£950. Total £1,250–£2,850. Listed Building Consent required for any modification to door — usually granted for fire-safety upgrades that retain visual character. Builderr's Barbican (Grade II) project used this approach on 8 original ash-veneer doors — accepted by Building Control + Accountable Person + LBC.