Hospital Fire Doors

100s of fire doors inspected  | Pre-action matter 

Background 

A Ridge fire engineering expert was appointed by solicitors acting for a contractor to investigate and opine on replacement of fire doors in a hospital in the UK. 

Specifically, issues related to whether the doors were beyond economic repair and needed replacing, and, where required, whether replacement was needed due to a lack of maintenance or because of improper design or installation. 

The expert was present during invasive inspections of an agreed proportion of doors. 

The expert considered whether the doors complied with the contractual standards, whether repair was possible, where repair wasn’t possible, what the primary cause of this was, and whether the maintenance regime had shortened the lifespan of the doors. 

If fire doors are not installed correctly then they may not provide the requisite period of fire resistance. There are several reasons why the fire doors would be likely to fail prematurely to the extent they require replacing. These include: 

(a) Whether the installer cuts out sections of the door around pivot hinges.  

(b) Whether fire doors are installed within single boarded metal stud partition walls; this is often contrary to manufacturers’ requirements.  

(c) Whether gaps between the door and floor are too large (or too small and prevent proper movement of the door). 

(d) Whether retro-fitted ironmongery results in oversize holes without intumescent seals, or other similar issues.  

Other than threshold gaps, most defects would not be identified in a typical maintenance inspection.  

The expert’s report was used by the legal team to advise the client in the most appropriate manner.