Do all the internal doors in my flat need to be fire doors?

Not necessarily. Whether a particular room door forms part of a protected route depends on the flat's layout, the approach the building was designed to and the fire strategy or fire risk assessment. Approved Document B sets out alternative planning approaches for flats rather than one rule for every door. Your building's fire information, or advice from building control or a fire safety professional, determines which doors matter.

Is this the same as the flat front door?

No. The flat entrance door separates the flat from the communal corridor or stair and may be managed within the building's fire safety arrangements. Internal doors are inside the flat. Our flat entrance fire doors page covers the front door.

What about the bathroom door?

Bathrooms are not treated in the same way as habitable rooms in every approach, so a bathroom door is not automatically part of the protected route. Check the layout and fire information for your flat rather than assuming either way.

Someone removed the closers from our internal doors. Is that a problem?

If those doors form part of the protected hall in your flat's design, removing self-closing devices can affect how the arrangement performs. Whether closers are required depends on the approach used and the fire information for the building. We can price reinstatement where it is required.

Can you tell us which doors need to be fire doors?

We do not set the requirement. That comes from the fire strategy, fire risk assessment, design information or building control. Our site visit assesses the doors to scope and price repair or replacement work; where a formal inspection or report is needed, it is arranged through a specialist external inspection partner.

Guide

Internal Fire Doors in Flats

The flat entrance door is a separate focus; in some layouts the doors between the entrance hall and the rooms are also part of how occupants escape. This guide explains how the layout can affect those room doors, what to look at on them and how repair or replacement is scoped.

Get a Fire Door Quote Call 07561 516094

Entrance Door Versus Internal Doors

The flat entrance door separates the flat from the communal corridor or stair. Internal doors sit inside the flat, between the hall and the bedrooms, living room and kitchen. They are a different question: whether they need to be fire-resisting depends on how the flat was planned for escape.

How The Layout Affects Room Doors

Approved Document B describes alternative ways of planning a flat for escape. One approach is a protected entrance hall serving the habitable rooms, where the doors from the hall to those rooms form part of the protection. Other approaches rely on limited travel distances, room positions or alternative exits, and may treat the internal doors differently.

So a room door may form part of the protected arrangement in one layout but not in another, depending on the design basis and the fire information for the building. The building's fire strategy, fire risk assessment or original design information is the reference, and building control determines the applicable route for building work.

Layouts You May Come Across

Protected hall

Rooms opening off a protected entrance hall

The hall forms the escape route to the flat door, and the room doors may form part of that protection.

Open plan

Kitchen or living space open to the hall

Open-plan layouts raise different questions and may rely on other measures; they are assessed on their design basis.

Altered

Flats changed since construction

Removed walls, new openings or swapped doors can change the original arrangement and need checking against the fire information.

Larger flats

Multi-storey or larger units

Maisonettes and larger flats may have a different approach, including alternative exits.

What To Check On The Doors That Matter

Leaf: construction, damage, holes, trimming and any glazing
Frame: condition, fixing and whether it matches the leaf
Gaps around the leaf and at the threshold
Seals, where the door specification includes them
Self-closing device, where required, and whether it closes the door fully
Hinges, latch and other ironmongery: fitted, secure and compatible

Repair Or Replacement

A door that is part of the protected arrangement and has wear or missing components may be capable of repair where its construction and evidence support it. Where the leaf cannot be identified, has been altered or is in poor condition, replacement may be the supported scope. Our guides to repair or replacement and fire door closers cover the detail.

Guidance Source

Approved Document B Volume 1: Dwellings, 2019 edition incorporating the 2020, 2022, 2025 and 2026 amendments, collated with the 2029 amendments (England), via the GOV.UK Approved Document B collection, accessed 16 October 2026. Paragraph 3.18 and its diagrams set out alternative internal planning approaches for flats. The 2026 amendments took effect on 30 September 2026; the 2029 amendments are future changes not yet in force. Transitional arrangements may mean an earlier edition applies to a particular project. Approved Documents are guidance; building control determines compliance for building work. Wales and Scotland have their own guidance.

What To Send For A Quote

Send a simple floor plan or sketch of the flat, photographs of each door (both faces, edges and hardware), any fire risk assessment or report actions and the building address through our contact form. We assess the doors on site to scope and price the works and return a written quotation with the VAT basis stated.

Pages that own the entrance door, leaseholder and component questions.

Flat entrance fire doors Leaseholder door replacement Repair or replacement?Fire door closers

Frequently Asked Questions

Internal Flat Doors To Sort Out?

Send a sketch of the layout and photographs of the doors. We will scope the repair or replacement and return a written quotation.

Get a Fire Door Quote 07561 516094