FD30 Fire Doors London

Why FD30 Deserves Its Own Page

FD30 is one of the clearest product-intent terms in this space. Buyers often arrive knowing they need an FD30 route but still need help with the opening, the assembly and the installation.

What The Page Helps With

This page is for product-plus-installation intent: what FD30 usually means, where it is commonly used and how to move from the label to a practical quote.

When To Use Another Page Instead

If you already know the issue is inspection-led, cost-led or compliance-led, the inspection, cost or compliance pages may be a better destination.

What FD30 and FD30S actually mean

FD30 is a door tested to resist fire spread for 30 minutes when properly installed and maintained. FD30S adds the requirement for cold smoke seals — the "S" — meaning the door resists not just flame but the migration of smoke through the door-to-frame gap at ambient temperature. For HMOs and any shared escape route in London, FD30S is the standard you actually need. A bare FD30 without smoke seals is not compliant for an HMO escape route.

The 30-minute fire rating refers to the integrity of the door under fire conditions when fitted with the correct ironmongery, gaps within tolerance, and seals intact. Lose any of those three and the rating is no longer guaranteed even if the leaf itself is certified.

Where FD30S is required in London properties

• Every habitable room (bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms) opening onto a shared escape route in an HMO.
• Kitchen doors in HMOs and flats — kitchens have a higher fire load.
• Utility, boiler and electrical-cupboard doors opening onto escape routes.
• Flat-entrance doors on flats opening onto communal corridors — typically FD30S minimum for buildings under 11m height.
• Doors at the head of staircase enclosures in multi-storey residential properties.
• Doors between a garage and the dwelling.

Where the building is over 11m or in a higher-risk category, FD60 is required instead — see FD60 fire doors London.

FD30S specification — what every Doorz London FD30S installation includes

• Door leaf: BWF-Certifire or BM TRADA tested FD30S. White primer or veneer finishes. 44 mm thick standard, 35 mm in some lighter-duty applications. Visible certification plug or label.
• Frame: tested compatible frame (or existing if retained and rated). Stops correctly positioned, intumescent seal in the rebate.
• Intumescent strips: certified Lorient or Pyroplex, fitted in the rebate (or door edge depending on test data).
• Cold smoke seals: Lorient brush seals — the "S" of FD30S. Required for HMO and escape-route compliance.
• Hinges: three CE/UKCA-marked Grade 13 steel ball-bearing fire-rated hinges, 105 × 75 mm standard, spaced per BS 8214.
• Closer: concealed (Briton 2003V) or surface-mounted (Briton 121CE) rated to BS EN 1154.
• Latch: CE-marked fire-rated tubular latch — Union 2200 series or equivalent.
• Handle set: lever-on-rose, with sprung return mechanism so handle drops cleanly.
• Finish: primed for site painting, or pre-finished oak/walnut veneer.

FD30S installation — what we actually do on the day

1. Floor protection laid before any door is moved.
2. Existing door removed, opening checked for square, frame condition assessed.
3. If existing frame is being retained and rated, intumescent seals in rebate inspected and replaced if compromised.
4. New door offered into opening, hinge positions marked.
5. Hinges fitted to door, then door hung — the standard order so hinge alignment is true.
6. Door swung and tested for gaps: 2–4 mm at sides and head, max 8 mm at threshold.
7. Latch and lock fitted, sprung handle checked for clean drop.
8. Closer fitted — concealed if specified, surface-mounted if visible closer is acceptable.
9. Strips and seals checked for continuous contact with frame.
10. Closer adjusted: latching speed (closes within 5 seconds), latch action (firm but no slam).
11. Final test: door released from 45°, 90° and 130° open positions — must self-latch from each.
12. Photograph of each finished door.

Real London FD30S pricing 2026

• FD30S leaf only (existing certified frame retained): £290–£420 supply and fit.
• FD30S full door set (door + frame + ironmongery, fitted): £490–£680.
• FD30S oak-veneer leaf (premium finish): add £60–£120 to standard leaf pricing.
• HMO 6-door package (6 internal + 1 flat-entrance + documentation): £3,200–£4,400.
• HMO 10-door package: £4,900–£6,400 with volume rates applied.

FD30 vs FD30S vs FD60 — which one your property needs

Short answer:

• FD30 (without smoke seals): rarely the answer for a London property. Some single-family-occupancy commercial settings only.
• FD30S (with smoke seals): the right answer for HMOs, flat-entrance doors in buildings under 11m, and most domestic escape-route applications.
• FD60: buildings over 11m, plant rooms, electrical intake rooms, certain commercial settings, and anywhere the fire risk assessment explicitly requires.

For a deeper comparison see FD30 vs FD60 fire doors.

Maintenance over the door's lifetime

An FD30S door looked after well lasts 25+ years. Three things to do across that lifetime:

1. Quarterly inspection — required for HMO escape routes. Check gaps, seals, hinges, closer, latch. We provide the log template.
2. Avoid painting the seals — repainters constantly do this. Strips lose their intumescent expansion under paint. Replace before next inspection if it happens.
3. Adjust the closer if it starts to drag — most closers have speed and latch-action set screws that take 30 seconds to rebalance.

For ongoing service see fire door maintenance.