The Compliance Hub
UK fire door regulation, in plain English
Who must do what, by when, under which law. 54 sourced guides — every one cites the source legislation and official guidance, and states when it was last reviewed.
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Start here — the law
Who is responsible, what the core duties are, and which laws apply.
Fire Door Regulations UK: The Complete Guide to Every Law That Applies
Every UK fire door law mapped: the Fire Safety Order 2005, Regulation 10 checks, Building Safety Act 2022, Approved Document B and devolved rules.
Read the guidance →Are Fire Doors a Legal Requirement? Which UK Law Applies and When
Fire doors are legally required where Building Regulations or the Fire Safety Order demand them — not on every home's internal door. See which law applies.
Read the guidance →Who Is the Responsible Person for Fire Safety? Article 3 of the Fire Safety Order Explained
The responsible person under Article 3 of the Fire Safety Order 2005 is the employer, person in control or owner. Duties and section 156 changes.
Read the guidance →Fire Door Checks Under Regulation 10: How Often, What to Check and Who Is Responsible
Regulation 10 requires quarterly checks of communal fire doors and annual flat entrance door checks in English residential buildings over 11m. Full guide.
Read the guidance →Regulation 38 Fire Safety Information: The Handover Duty Explained
Regulation 38 of the Building Regulations 2010: who must hand fire safety information to the responsible person, when, and what a fire door pack contains.
Read the guidance →The Building Safety Act 2022 and Fire Doors: Duties for Higher-Risk Buildings
How the Building Safety Act 2022 affects fire doors: higher-risk buildings, accountable persons, gateways, the golden thread and safety case reports.
Read the guidance →Fire door law by UK nation
Building and fire safety law is devolved. Where Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland differ from England, here is exactly how.
Fire Door Regulations in Scotland: What Differs From England
How Scotland's fire door rules differ from England: resistance durations not FD ratings, duty holders not responsible persons, and no Regulation 10.
Read the guidance →Fire Door Regulations in Wales: What Differs From England
How Welsh fire door rules differ from England's: devolved building regulations, sprinklers in every new home, BS 476 retained, no Regulation 10 intervals.
Read the guidance →Fire Door Regulations in Northern Ireland: The Rules That Apply
Fire door regulations in Northern Ireland: Technical Booklet E door classes, 'appropriate person' duties under the 2006 Order and HMO rules.
Read the guidance →Ratings, materials, testing & certification
What FD ratings mean, what a fire door is made of, how doors are tested, and how certification is evidenced.
Fire Door Ratings Explained: FD30, FD30S, FD60, FD90 and FD120
FD30, FD30S, FD60, FD90 and FD120 explained: the BS 476-22 basis, EN 13501-2 classes, typical thicknesses and where each rating is required.
Read the guidance →FD30 vs FD60 Fire Doors: Which Rating Do You Need?
FD30 vs FD60 fire doors compared: 30 vs 60 minutes' resistance, 44mm vs 54mm leaves, where each rating is expected, smoke seals, prices and upgrades.
Read the guidance →What Is a Fire Door Made Of? Core, Lippings and Seals Explained
A fire door is an engineered assembly, not solid timber: the core, lippings, facings, intumescent seals, glazing and ironmongery, all tested together.
Read the guidance →Composite vs Timber Fire Doors: Which Is Right?
Timber, composite and steel fire doors compared: uses, weather and security trade-offs, and why certification, not material, proves performance.
Read the guidance →BS 476 vs EN 1634: UK Fire Door Testing Standards Explained
BS 476-22 vs BS EN 1634-1 fire door testing compared: E, EI and EW classes, the FD30-to-E30 mapping table, and the 2029 Approved Document B change.
Read the guidance →Fire Door Certification Schemes Compared: Certifire, Q-Mark, IFC and FIRAS
Certifire, Q-Mark, IFC and FIRAS compared: what each fire door certification scheme covers, how to check certificates on each public register.
Read the guidance →UKCA & CE Marking of Fire Doorsets: EN 16034 Explained
UKCA/CE marking of fire doorsets is made to BS EN 16034 with a Declaration of Performance — and how it differs from Certifire/Q-Mark certification.
Read the guidance →Fire Doorset vs Fire Door Assembly: Why the Difference Matters
A fire doorset is factory-assembled and tested as one unit; an assembly is built on site from components. How the difference shapes certification.
Read the guidance →Notional and Nominal Fire Doors: What They Are and Why They Fail Assessments
Nominal and notional fire doors are existing doors presumed to resist fire but with no test evidence or certification. Why assessors flag them.
Read the guidance →Are Fire Doors Soundproof? Fire Ratings vs Acoustic Ratings
A fire rating and an acoustic rating are separate, tested properties. Why a standard fire door cuts some sound but isn't soundproof or Part E rated.
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Inspection & maintenance
How often to check, what to look for, how to keep a door effective in use, and how to tell a compliant door from a failing one.
How Often Should Fire Doors Be Inspected? Legal Intervals and Good Practice
England, blocks over 11m: communal fire doors at least every 3 months, flat entrance doors every 12 months. Elsewhere the risk assessment decides.
Read the guidance →Fire Door Inspection: Who Can Inspect, What Gets Checked and What It Costs
How fire door inspections work in the UK: who is competent to inspect, how often each setting needs checks, the 25-point checklist and typical costs.
Read the guidance →Fire Door Gap Tolerances: How Big Is Too Big?
Fire door gaps explained: BS 8214's 2-4mm perimeter guidance, threshold rules with and without smoke seals, how to measure gaps, and how to fix failures.
Read the guidance →Fire Door Self-Closers: When They Are Required, EN 1154 Power Sizes and How to Keep Them Working
Which fire doors need self-closers in the UK, EN 1154 power sizes and marking, hold-open devices, closer adjustment and the Regulation 10 check duty.
Read the guidance →Intumescent Strips and Smoke Seals: How Fire Door Seals Work
How intumescent strips and smoke seals work on fire doors: activation temperature, FD30 and FD60 seal sizes, brush vs fin types, and when to replace them.
Read the guidance →Can You Prop Open a Fire Door? The Rules on Wedges and Hold-Open Devices
No — a fire door must never be wedged or propped open. The only legal way to hold one open is a device that releases it to self-close on the fire alarm.
Read the guidance →How to Identify a Fire Door: Labels, Plugs and Physical Checks
How to tell if a door is a fire door: where to find certification labels and plugs, which physical clues count, and what to do when there is no label.
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Components, installation & modification
Who can fit fire doors, the parts that make them work, and what you may and may not do to one without voiding its certification.
Who Can Install Fire Doors? Qualifications, Certification and the Competence Rule
No licence exists for fire door installation in the UK — competence is the legal test. What it means, FIRAS and Q-Mark schemes, DIY rules, verification.
Read the guidance →Can You Trim a Fire Door? Modification Rules That Keep Certification Valid
You can trim a fire door only within its certificate's allowance — often a few millimetres per edge. The modification rules that keep it certified.
Read the guidance →Can You Paint a Fire Door? What You Can and Cannot Do
Yes, you can paint a fire door with normal decorative paint — but never the smoke seals, label or hardware. UK guidance on coats, seals and certification.
Read the guidance →Can You Use Expanding Foam Around a Fire Door?
Ordinary expanding foam must not fill a fire door frame gap — it has no fire rating and voids certification. What to use, and what BS 8214 says.
Read the guidance →Fire Door Hinges: How Many, What Type, and the Rules
Fire doors need a minimum of three metal hinges. The 800°C melting-point rule, BS EN 1935 CE/UKCA marking, intumescent pads and common inspection failures.
Read the guidance →Fire Door Vision Panels and Glazing: The Rules for Glass in Fire Doors
Glass in a fire door must be fire-tested as part of that doorset. Glazing systems, vision panel sizes, cutting apertures and inspection points explained.
Read the guidance →Fire Door Letterplates and Letterboxes: The Rules
A fire door letterbox must be an intumescent, fire-rated letterplate in the doorset's certified spec; standard ones void fire and smoke protection.
Read the guidance →Double, Sliding and Other Fire Door Configurations
Fire doors can be pairs, sliding or other configurations, but each must be tested and certified as such. Meeting stiles and coordinators covered.
Read the guidance →Fire Door Signage Requirements: Which Signs Go Where in the UK
Which fire doors need 'keep shut' signs, where BS 5499-5 signs go, positioning height and both-faces rules, plus the flat entrance door exemption.
Read the guidance →Fire Door vs Fire Exit: What's the Difference?
A fire door is a fire-resisting doorset kept shut to hold back fire; a fire exit is a doorway for leaving. Signage, hardware and the law compared.
Read the guidance →Need this done in 2026? See our fire door installation service →
By building & situation
The specific rules for homes, flats, HMOs, care homes, offices, schools, loft conversions and house-to-garage doors.
Do Bedrooms Need Fire Doors? What the Rules Actually Require
In an ordinary two-storey house, bedroom doors needn't be fire doors. When they do: three-storey homes, loft conversions, integral garages and HMOs.
Read the guidance →Flat Entrance Fire Doors: Rules, Responsibility and Replacement
Flat entrance fire doors: Fire Safety Act 2021 scope, annual checks over 11m, FD30S replacement, self-closers, who pays — freeholder or leaseholder.
Read the guidance →HMO Fire Door Requirements: What Landlords Must Provide and Why
HMO fire door requirements explained for landlords: FD30 and FD30s doors on escape routes, self-closers, licence conditions, LACORS guidance, penalties.
Read the guidance →Care Home Fire Door Requirements: HTM, Progressive Evacuation and the Rules
Fire door rules for UK care homes: progressive horizontal evacuation, FD30S/FD60S compartment and bedroom doors, self-closers, hold-opens and HTM 05-02.
Read the guidance →Office and Workplace Fire Door Requirements: The Rules Explained
Office fire doors follow the Fire Safety Order 2005, not 11m residential intervals: where needed, how often to check them, signage and duties.
Read the guidance →School and Education Fire Door Requirements: The Rules Explained
School fire doors follow the Fire Safety Order 2005 and BB100, not 11m residential intervals: where needed, hold-open rules, checks and sprinklers.
Read the guidance →Loft Conversion Fire Doors: Which Doors You Need and Why
A loft conversion usually makes a house three storeys, so Approved Document B expects a protected stairway with fire doors. Which doors, and why.
Read the guidance →Garage Fire Door Requirements: The Door Between House and Garage
What Approved Document B requires between a house and an integral garage: an E30 Sa (FD30S) self-closing fire door, REI 30 separation and floor rules.
Read the guidance →Need this done in 2026? Planning a project? See fire door supply & installation →
Costs
What fire doors and their inspection realistically cost in the UK.
More guidance
Fire Door Ironmongery and Hardware: The UK Rules
Fire door ironmongery — hinges, closers, locks, latches, hold-opens and letterplates — must stay within the doorset's certified scope. The BS EN rules explained.
Read the guidance →Fire Door Requirements for Blocks of Flats
Fire doors in blocks of flats: flat entrance doors FD30S, communal stair and corridor doors, and Regulation 10 checks over 11m in England.
Read the guidance →Gym and Leisure Centre Fire Door Requirements: The Rules Explained
Gym and leisure centre fire doors follow the Fire Safety Order 2005 and Approved Document B: where they are needed, ratings, humid pool areas and checks.
Read the guidance →Hotel Fire Door Requirements: Sleeping Risk, Ratings and Checks
Fire door rules for UK hotels: Fire Safety Order duties, where FD30S and FD60S doors go, self-closers, and why Regulation 10's residential intervals don't apply.
Read the guidance →Places of Worship Fire Door Requirements: The Rules Explained
Churches and places of worship follow the Fire Safety Order 2005, not residential Reg 10: where fire doors are needed, ratings, heritage constraints and checks.
Read the guidance →Restaurant and Commercial Kitchen Fire Door Requirements
Restaurant and commercial kitchen fire door requirements under the Fire Safety Order: where FD30(S) doors are needed, ratings, self-closers, checks and the Reg 10 myth.
Read the guidance →Retail and Shop Fire Door Requirements: The Rules Explained
Shop and retail fire doors follow the Fire Safety Order 2005: where they are needed, what rating, how often to check, and what a flat above changes.
Read the guidance →Student Accommodation Fire Door Requirements: PBSA, Halls and the Rules
Fire door rules for UK student accommodation and PBSA halls: FD30S study-bedroom and flat-entrance doors, protected stairs, self-closers and Regulation 10 checks.
Read the guidance →Warehouse and Industrial Fire Door Requirements: The Rules Explained
Warehouse and industrial fire door requirements: which UK law applies, where FD30 and FD60 doorsets go, sliding fire shutters, and how often to check them.
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