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Fire Doors – A New Age
Fire doors regulations have tightened, scrutiny has intensified and landlords, registered social providers and developers, must get it right, first time, every time. What is Hurst Doors’ answer?
Hurst’s next-generation composite fire door range is rigorously tested – as it should be. With triple certification for fire, smoke and security and tested to BS EN1634 and PAS24, the doors achieve an average resistance time of 44 minutes – almost 50% longer than the FD30 (30 minute) standard requirement.
According to Mark Atkinson, Hurst’s sales director, it also brings increased design flexibility with fully tested and accredited fanlight and or sidelight frame options.
He says: “It’s about certainty. We offer a fire door range that gives fabricators, installers and developers access to a core product which meets the strictest regulatory requirements, which has been comprehensively tested and which still delivers design flexibility.”
Regulatory changes
The Grenfell tragedy and the regulatory changes that the sector has seen since have reshaped fire door manufacture and supply. This includes the Building Safety Act, introduced in 2022, which has reset expectations of safety and also accountability in the supply of all building products. This introduces the concept of the ‘Golden Thread’, effectively a record of design, installation and maintenance of safety critical elements in buildings, including fire doors, particularly in highrise and higher-risk, buildings.
It also assigns principal designers, principal contractors and accountable persons, enforced by the new Building Safety Regulator. Part of the same review of fire safety, Fire Safety Regulations 2022 introduce a requirement for quarterly checks on communal fire doors and annual checks on flat entrance doors.
“The product requirement is fundamentally still the same,” Atkinson continues. “You have to meet building regulations. That includes manufacture and testing in line with BS476 Part 22 or BSEN 1634-1 (fire resistance); BS EN1634-3 (smoke control); and PAS24.
“The additional requirement now under the Building Safety Act is for transparency and accountability. ‘Who did what and when and was it done to standard?’ is the questions it imposes
“We can support customers in answering them by giving them access to a comprehensive audit trail through Hurst Live, our customer portal. It tracks every product we make, including fire doors, providing a full order history, including specification detail.
“It is designed to fit around how people actually work. Whether you’re quoting for one unit or 100, the system gives you full control, full traceability and creates an audit trail to evidence compliance with new regulation.
“Installers also receive clear installation instructions with every fire door.”
Installation is key
Atkinson says: “Our customers are generally highly competent, however, we still provide detailed installation instructions because there is clearly no room for error or misinterpretation.”
For more complex schemes, Hurst’s technical team is on hand to guide customers through specification, test evidence and documentation, particularly valuable when working with social landlords or frameworks requiring audit trails.
Spending review
Atkinson is buoyant about the future. He says: “The composite fire-door market has recovered and is sizeable. The government has announced major investment in housing, driving developments. At the same time a lot of social housing schemes which were refurbished 10 or 20 years ago under the Decent Homes programme are coming round again for refurbishment. That’s a major opportunity for fabricators and installers – but delivery has to be approached with professionalism, a commitment to compliance and the audit trail that proves it.
Pictures: Hurst’s Mark Atkinson says as a fabricator, installation specialist or developer, his company can be part of your solution with a flexible fire-rated product offer, which includes fully tested side and fan lights and a high performing core product, plus a clear and immediately accessible audit trail which proves performance.
Article written by Cathryn Ellis
12th September 2025