Flat entrance fire door checks in Maidenhead
Every flat front door checked and recorded, including the ones that are hard to get to.
Get a priceThe front door of a flat is a fire door, even though it looks like a normal front door.
It holds a fire inside the flat for long enough for everybody else to get out. If it does not close on its own, the whole plan for the building falls apart.
And it is the door nobody thinks about.
The annual check
In a building over 11 metres, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 say you must use your best endeavours to check flat entrance doors every 12 months.
Best endeavours means you have to really try, and you have to show that you tried. If a resident will not let us in, we record that and you have something to show for it.
The problems we find most
The closer has been taken off. This is the big one. People find it heavy, or it bangs, or the dog got caught in it, so off it comes.
A letterbox has been changed for one that is not fire rated.
The door has been swapped by the leaseholder for something that looks nicer from a catalogue. A nice front door is not a fire door. Panelled doors are a common one here, because cutting panels into a door can void its rating.
Spy holes and door chains drilled in by a handyman.
Gaps that have opened up because the frame has moved or the door has been planed to clear new flooring.
Access is the hard part
This is what takes the time. Forty flats means forty people to catch at home.
We can work from a list you give us and go back for the ones we missed. We will tell you up front how that affects the price, because a return visit costs more than a door we can walk straight up to.
It helps a lot if residents get a letter from you beforehand. We can tell you what to put in it.
Who pays for it
Look at the leases. In some blocks the flat entrance door belongs to the building and in others to the leaseholder. Either way the duty to check stays with the responsible person.
We report on the door as it is. Sorting out who pays is for you and your managing agent.
What you get
A record of each flat, whether we got in, and the state of the door. Photos of what is wrong. Which ones have failed and why.
If a leaseholder needs telling their door has to be dealt with, the report gives you what you need.
Repairs can be priced from the report.
Questions we get asked
Can you check the door from the corridor only?
From the corridor you can see the gaps and the outside face. The closer, hinges and seals need the door open.
A resident refused access. What now?
We record the refusal and the date. Try again, and keep a note of what you did. That is what best endeavours looks like.
Tell us how many doors you have and we will send you a price the same day.
Get a price