What does the new fire door regulation mean for landlords?
A webinar run by Inside Housing in association with Gerda explored how a housing association’s safety team can take on new requirements to check fire doors more regularly, and how to engage residents in the process
In association with:
The requirement to have quarterly checks on fire doors in communal areas and annual checks on entrance doors in buildings taller than 11 metres came into force in January.
The law is part of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, following the recommendation of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
The inquiry found that failing self-closers was a key factor in the loss of compartmentation in the fire. During an evacuation, when fire doors do not close, smoke can rapidly spread and prevent residents from escaping.
Research last year by the Fire Door Inspection Scheme reveals that out of 100,000 inspections, 75% of fire doors had some flaws.
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This Inside Housing webinar, sponsored by Gerda, explored these questions:
- How can a safety team resource and undertake the new requirement?
- Who is responsible for the cost in different tenures of buildings?
- How can teams best engage residents?
- What might be the barriers?
Participants
Ian Bailey, technical advisor, Institution of Fire Engineers
Ian Bailey is a fire engineer who has worked in the fire sector for more than 31 years. He brings with him not only firefighting and fire ground command experience in the London Fire Brigade, but he also specialised in the fire safety field from his early career.
He has a wide range of experience in the sector and a particular interest around evacuation lifts, smoke control system design, CFD design, heritage premises and salvage plan design, firefighting tactics and systems and firefighting lifts, the RRO and enforcement and other relevant legislation, planning and building control consultations.
Mr Bailey believes the influential work that the Institution of Fire Engineers and its members carry out in the built environment, especially since the Grenfell tragedy in 2017, is of such critical importance and he relishes the challenge of being part of developing a safer built environment and representing the members to achieve that.
Fiona Critchley, head of communications, Gerda Security Products, and chair, Timber Doorsets Group, Door & Hardware Federation
Fiona Critchley has worked in the fire industry for 20 years and in a number of technical committees for fire safety products, including the technical working group on fire doors for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities set up after the Grenfell tragedy, representing the Fire Industry Association; the special interest group for the FIA/NFCC Code of Practice; and the BSI working committee on BS8629:2019+A1:2023 for evacuation alert panels.
She has co-authored the publication A guide for selecting flat entrance doorsets, a publication for housing associations, landlords, building owners and local authorities in England, produced jointly by the Door & Hardware Federation, Secured by Design and the FIA.
She also chairs the Timber Doorsets Group for the Door & Hardware Federation.
Gottfried Plange-Welbeck, head of technical and compliance, Sage Homes
Gottfriend Plange-Welbeck is responsible for all statutory property compliance activities at Sage Homes, ensuring buildings are safe for residents. He is a property compliance professional with more than 20 years’ experience in this field, having worked across several housing associations and councils.
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