Question about fire door upgrade -related to loft conversion

[leakyconservatory]

Hello, when we bought our house the survey said that while the loft conversion complied with all the building regulations at the time (1994) with respect to doors leading to the escape route - it did meet meet current regulations.

(Once we bought the house we had all the paperwork to confirm it did indeed meet building regs at the time, have approval etc.)

So currently we have non-fire doors that are self closing, for all doors leading to the stairs/hall/landing as per 1994 standards. I believe the current standards call for fire doors, but not self closing.

We would like to replace some of the doors downstairs as they are all cheap and nasty, so my question is - which doors should I use?

If I just put normal doors in, it wouldn't be meeting any standards, old or new.

If I replace some with fire doors (fitted properly to comply with all the rules), then we are half way between both sets of regulations, as some old doors will remain.

I'm inclined to use fire doors, because, well, they are recommended for a reason! But I just want to get some advice on whether having a mishmash of doors would be a problem if we sold the house in future?

Thank you.

 

[tony1851]

As long as you don't make the situation any worse vis-a-vis the original regs when the loft was converted, there won't be a problem.
How future potential buyers see it is another matter- who knows?

 

[Luckyphil]

You may have a problem replacing some of the Doors with Fire Doors , Most internal Doors are 35mm thick Firedoors are a minimum 44mm thick , so you will,have to have the Frame reabtes altered to 44mm depth

Lucky

 

[leakyconservatory]

Hi - thanks for the advice. I guess if we have the paperwork to say that it was all good the first time round, and we show that all we've done is bring elements further up to date, then who can complain?

Re. the door frames. I was wondering about that. I was planning on getting a carpenter to come and fit the doors, and spoke to a few before Xmas who didn't seem phased by upgrading some to fire doors, so presumably that is all straightforward for a professional?

 

[Luckyphil]

It shouldn't be a problem for a good Chippy , they can route out the Rebates to 44mm deep , It would be good to check with the Local Auth would the other depth be ok if achieved by Planting in 12mm timber screwed and glued to give you a 25mm x 44mm rebate , at present you will have about 12mm x 35mm at a guess

That's the normal practice in Gtr Manchester for upgrading existing Door Frames

|Lucky

PS they may also require Perko type Door Closers

 

[cjard]

PS they may also require Perko type Door Closers

I thought the "fire doors must be self closing" rule had been removed from the approved documents?

 

[Tipper]

PS they may also require Perko type Door Closers

I thought the "fire doors must be self closing" rule had been removed from the approved documents?

No, closers are not in the latest regs.

Personally if I was in the OP's situation I would fit fire doors for my own safety!