Fire door survey, how reliable are they?

It’s a minefield for sure, but two questions
1. What is the height of the building
2. Have you checked the lease because often the final exit door to the property is not demised so responsibility for this lies with the building not each leaseholder.

Also, if you check the door, there should be either a label or a little plastic coloured plug on the top or inside edge near the hinges. That will tell you the rating of the door. Without that, no one is going to certify it.

Letterbox I would definitely replace.. They cost about £30 and it’s a DIY job.

Hinges…. Are probably not fire rated but easy to change if you do one at a time.

A 1mm gap is ok…. It will change with the weather and can’t be more than 4mm on the closing vertical edge and 10mm at the bottom of the door.

You MUST have a door closer.

The spy hole they are technically correct but many assessors take the view that a standard one because of its location is likely to hold up for 30 minutes so the door will burn through by the time it goes so is a tolerable risk.

I feel your confusion on this matter
My nephew fits Fire doors for a living and had to replace every existing fire door on a block of flats as None of them meet the current standards.
However do you have Turnthumb locks on exit doors ?
Mains wired interlinked smoke alarms ?
COAlarm with sealed battery ?
Ask for confirmation from the managing agents about what needs to be done.
What are the other owners doing ?

All because of “Grenfell” and believe me the last government was apathetic about fire safety even after that event and some property managers are still dragging their feet.
Just follow the managing agents advise, you can do no more than that and use companies they recommend for the work who are also accredited. I have been quoted from under £300 to £1000 for minor work taking 30 minutes and even wanting to send 2 men. Rip off Britain again.
Your managing agent may threaten action if this work is not carried out and may require an annual survey.

Reply to the comment left by DAMIEN RAFFERTY at 15/07/2026 – 09:51
Damien which area does your nephew work in.. its Middlesbrough in particular that I would need anything done in.

The management agency is way behind the date required for implementation ie January 2023!

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-england-regulations-2022-fire-door-guidance/fire-safety-england-regulations-2022-fire-door-guidance (updated 2025)

Reply to the comment left by David at 15/07/2026 – 10:06

Ah my trusty screenshot just for this cause. In Nov 2025 you may recall a Fire in Hong Kong, in Taipo which is uptowards the China border 150 died. Our cops arrested 38 people within about 48 hours – manslaugher and fraud. Our ICAC – anti corrruption arrested 23 for graft including consultants and contractors and building related people. By March 2026 9 were formally charged including Directors : Ho Kin-yip: Director of the main contractor, Prestige Construction & Engineering.Wong Hap-yin: Director of the consultancy firm, Will Power Architects.Hau Wa-kin: Director of Prestige Construction & Engineering. To this day UK has millions still living in flats of buildings waiting to be re-cladded. A bit of Chinese justice would soon sort it out.

I’ve had the same with doors – and some incorrect advice given on so many occassions. For the gap under the door issue we put underlay to raise the gap. We’ve had the 3 hinge nonsense done that too. just go buy some and screw them in. Also door closer pick one up too from Screwfix or B&Q – I put one in my luxury Airbnb in Sri Lanka, perfectly fitted. The ones I had fitted in UK with the hinges the British workmanship was excellent – they failed to put all the screws into the hinges and they broke the door frame.. Agent didnt care.. lovely.

Oh and for the record – bamboo doesnt burn… it was substandard netting and some workman deciding to throw his cigarette down from up there on his bamboo which was the culprit.. nice one.. Sure he’s in a Hong Kong jail now too.

Agree with Tim Peters and check your lease on what was demised and what costs allowable for service charge with regard to maintenance and repairs under terms of your lease contract and block fire insurance cover.
You are legally entitled to inspect your block building insurance cover and request confirmation from the MA (acting on behalf of the Lessor/Landlord ) that the premium has been paid, a cost item in your service charges.
It suggests to me the Landlord is responsible for ensuring your flat exit door complies with block insurance cover and legally required to organise a contractor to undertake the work and obtain a certificate of satisfaction to ensure block insurance cover maintained.
These are service costs apportioned and itemised in your annual audited certified service charges statement in accordance with your lease contract with the Lessor Landlord named in your lease.
If the MA will not allow inspection of building insurance then contact LEASE for a template letter to serve under Section 21(1) Landlord & Tenant Act 1986.

Reply to the comment left by DAMIEN RAFFERTY at 15/07/2026 – 09:51
The other flat owners are doing absolutely nothing, unfortunately. Most initially said we will do this together but have now stopped responding to any emails about this. Some of the flats are tenanted too. This makes me wonder, is there something they know that I don’t? Is all this not mandatory? What happens if there’s a fire and the landlord doesn’t have the FD30 certification?

Reply to the comment left by rita chawla at 15/07/2026 – 16:45
You don’t have to wait for the others Rita. Serve your template notice on the Landlord and the Managing Agent.
You might encourage the others on the basis of the reply (or non-reply). If you know name of the Insurers you can contact them and ask what their requirements are to maintain block insurance cover regarding the flat doors which all have to meet same standards to get the certificate.