In this piece of work, we provided fire precaution remedies for blocks of flats and HMO’s (House of Multiple Occupancy). We discovered fire precaution problems and found appropriate solutions.
HMO Fire Door Issue Resolved in Exeter
A young Lady purchased a small Flat in a block with rented out and owner occupied flats. The management Company advised of various requirements of the Fire Risk Assessment that applied to her flat including the front door. The front door had started life as a Fire door leaf.
However the previous occupiers had cut a hole in the existing front door for a cat flap and not protecting the core of the door and when fitted, the door had been ‘adapted’ to fit the existing door frame. This rendered the door not compliant. A new door was required along with a new door liner all to FD30(S) specification.
Bespoke Service Cupboard Fire Doors for Torbay Block of Flats
The Fire Risk Assessment in a Torbay block of flats flagged up that each Flat had a service cupboard that housed a gas meter and opened into the common escape stairwell. The doors on them were only thin plywood. The Fire Risk Assessment recommended the doors to be FD30(S) specification.
However as these were small cupboard doors (18″ x 36″) it was not possible to purchase doors of that size off the shelf. So the new doors were made from specialist cutable fire door leafs, fitted on fire door hinges, with cold smoke intumescent strips and a Chubb security lock fitted with intumescent protection. All to FD30(S) specification.
Front Door Fire Precaution Upgrades for Torbay Block of Flats
From a block of luxury flats built in the late 70’s, the Fire Risk Assessment recommended the front doors that fronted onto the main escape route be upgraded with cold smoke intumescent strips, new fire door hinges and be made self closing. The management Committee were concerned for some of the flat owners who had become frail and elderly, even one being wheelchair bound.
A door closer would make it very difficult for them to use the door. So after a number of consultations a multifunction closer was decided on. The particular closer suggested by myself had a torque function and also a holdback function. So an elderly resident could arrive at the door with shopping, put it down, unlock and open the door, pushing it back, the door would stay at that position for about 20 seconds, enabling the resident to pick up the shopping and walk through unhindered, with the door closing and latching behind them. The torque setting was also turned back so that the door had not become too heavy to open.