Brighton & Hove City Council is continuing to work closely with East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service in response to government information on fire doors.
The council is temporarily halting its routine front door replacement programme in blocks of flats following a national agreement by manufacturers to suspend production of fire doors. Essential repairs to doors will not be affected.
The move follows a call to door suppliers from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) to take action after a number of fire doors failed to meet performance standards in testing carried out following the Grenfell fire.
The advice from the government and National Fire Chiefs Council on fire doors is that the additional risk to public safety is low, as a building’s fire protection uses a range of measures and, even when not meeting full resistance standards, fire doors will provide some protection.
IG Doors, the council’s current door supplier, has written to our repairs partners Mears to inform them that they’ve currently suspended the supply of new doors. IG Doors are not one of the suppliers whose doors failed.
MHCLG has informed local authorities that testing on Masterdor fire doors has found they do not consistently meet the 30 minute fire resistance standard. We have 2,254 of these doors in our housing - 1,585 in high-rise blocks and 669 in other properties. All were installed before April 2010.
We have carried out additional fire risk assessments on all our high-rise buildings where Masterdor fire doors are fitted. We’ve looked specifically at the potential impacts of the doors failing within 30 minutes and the assessments have confirmed that the risk remains low.
Our highest priority is the safety of our residents and we are awaiting further instruction from the government on what further action to take.
The National Fire Chiefs Council has advised that people should follow existing fire procedures for the building.
Residents should also test their smoke alarms regularly to ensure they work and ensure that their flat front door is fitted with a working self-closing device.
All doors provide essential protection in a fire if they are properly closed.
If any residents have concerns, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service offer free home visits to check or fit smoke alarms and offer a range of advice around home safety. Call 0800 177 7069 or visit www.esfrs.org/your-safety/home-safety-visits for more information.
You can also find more information on our fire safety in flats page.