Is that daylight!?
Gaps around a fire door...
I have to specify these all the time at work, but until recently I have never paid much attention to the tolerances allowed in the gaps around a fire door. You'd assume that the guys fitting them would know, so everything would go smoothly on site having written them on a drawing or specified them within a schedule. Another example of the standard of workmanship we've been left with at our HMO project by the previous builders, and another lesson learned going forward.
So we know for next time, the allowable gap size to the top & sides of a fitted fire door is between 2-4mm, and at the bottom of the door, that gap can be up to 10mm. This allows the intumescent strips around the door to swell and fully close the gaps around it in the event of a fire, so the flames can't spread through the opening.
After speaking to one of the builders many times about our concerns at the size of some of the gaps between the frames and doors, to be met with a blank expression and "no, I think that they'll be ok, you know", I found a handy tool online which I used in the pictures below to show him that all was not well.
He did manage to squeeze up some the larger gaps to make them a little less obvious at the top and sides, but when you're trying to rectify an issue with a door that has already been cut down too far, you're facing an uphill struggle really!
Were we being too anal? Not really. If it came to an inspection by the Building Control or HMO Officer, or the mortgage surveyor picked up on it when we get around to valuation, we're left with the possibility of not meeting regulations, so endangering our tenants, and the potential to receive a ZERO valuation on the HMO mortgage, as the property would not be to HMO standards.
Something to keep an eye on when you're viewing HMOs to buy, or checking the standards of your refurbs anyway.
