5 Things to Know About Nominal Fire Doors

Last updated: 29th May 2024

Following on from our Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 webinar (which you can watch on-demand here), we’ve compiled 5 commonly asked nominal fire door questions based on what our clients are wanting to know.

But first, let’s start from the top. What are the legal requirements for fire doors? Regarding the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, which came into force on 23^rd January 2023, fire doors must be checked regularly. In residential buildings over 11m in height, communal fire doors must have quarterly inspections, and all flat front entrance doors must be inspected annually, using best endeavours to gain access. The inspections should seek to identify any obvious damage or issues, during which the following should be checked:

• Are there any alterations or damage to a door’s glazing apertures or air transfer grille?
• Are there any gaps around the door frame? Are the seals and hinges fitted correctly?
• Does the door shut properly?
• Does the door close correctly around the whole frame?
• Is there any visible damage to the door or door closer?
• If there is a letterbox, is it suitable for use in fire-resisting doors and firmly closed?

If damage is identified in these initial checks, then more detailed checks will likely be needed. If you lack the skills or internal capacity to navigate this process, we can undertake fire door checks or more detailed inspections should you need them, alongside offering training on fire door inspections.

If you'd like to chat to one of our experts about your fire door needs, please get in touch below.

1. What is a fire door?

Fire doors are specialised doors designed to withstand fires, helping to contain a fire within one compartment of a building for as long as possible. Fire doors are one of the main components of your fire compartmentation strategy and are essential in ensuring tenant safety. Closed and regularly checked fire doors are designed to protect you from fire for a minimum of 30 minutes or longer, depending on the type of door. 

Fire doors and standard doors might be difficult to distinguish. You should check if the door has a certification label, which will provide information on the door type and its fire-resistance rating. Fire doors have other specific identifiers such as the width of the door, the type of seals around the edges and whether it has a self-closing device fixed to it.

However, it is not always a simple process to identify fire doors in instances where the label may have been painted over or planed-off, or the door may not be certificated in the first place.

If a door is not certificated, but has the common characteristics of a fire door, then it might be a nominal fire door.

2. What is a nominal fire door?

Nominal fire doors are often older fire doors that do not have any type of certification (such as manufacturers label or plug) and therefore do not evidence the fire performance of the door. The performance and suitability of a nominal fire door is usually determined based on an inspector’s opinion and as such, the fire performance of the door can only be presumed.

Nominal fire doors are also sometimes referred to as notional fire doors. Notional fire doors are often doors which have been in place for a long period of time having met earlier standards; they may still be fit for purpose if they are in good condition and function as required (they close properly and do not have excessive gaps around the edges). 

3. Should we replace nominal fire doors?

To determine whether or not your nominal fire doors should be replaced, you should undertake a Fire Risk Assessment to evaluate them. Careful consideration is necessary when it comes to making any decision that could affect tenant safety, therefore the plausible first step is to make contact with a competent professional who is qualified and knowledgeable.

Arrange for the competent person to inspect the relevant doors and provide a professional judgement as to what they believe would be the presumed fire performance of the doors. The competent person can provide further information about the door, its composition, and how it would likely perform in a fire situation, to then advise your risk assessment. Following the risk assessment, it can then be decided what proportionate action is needed. The responsibility falls on the organisation to determine their accepted risk level, and therefore what action they wish to take. For instance, it would be much more proportionate to replace the nominal fire doors that have poor ironmongery and have been damaged over time, rather than replacing those which are in very good condition with good ironmongery and showing all the characteristics of a fire door.

4. Is a nominal fire door safe?

It goes without saying that in any instance, the designated purpose of any fire door is primarily to stop a fire from spreading, to protect specific areas such as escape routes, and ultimately protect lives. If a competent person has carefully inspected and determined that your nominal fire door is suitable in regards to the fire safety strategy of the building and fire door regulations, then they will be able to advise you whether the door will continue to provide sufficient fire protection. It is always best to get nominal fire doors checked by a competent person so that you are assured they are still capable of withstanding fire and saving lives, or whether they need further repairs or replacement.

Need help identifying a competent person to assess your fire doors? Get in touch with one of our fire safety experts here to gain assurance that your fire doors are safe and compliant with the latest regulations.

5. Can you certify a nominal fire door?

Yes and no. Manufacturers of fire doors have a legal requirement to demonstrate the fire performance abilities of their fire doors. This is gained through testing the doors in suitable laboratories (often via third-party certification schemes) and gaining fire performance test certificates for the fire doors. Unless a pre-existing nominal fire door is removed from its location and tested at such a laboratory (which is very costly and will likely result in the fire door being burnt in an industrial furnace), the performance of the door in a fire situation will remain unknown. However, many third-party accredited contractors can self-certify repairs made to fire doors. These certificates will not guarantee the fire performance abilities of the fire door but they do provide assurance regarding the materials used, instructions followed and competency of those undertaking repairs to nominal fire doors.