Fire door ironmongery and seals

At a glance

England. BSI status read 7 Nov 2026; no standard was read. Rules from the DHF and GAI Code (Issue 5, 2024, advisory) and Approved Document B Appendix C. The certificate governs.

The rule: only what the certificate lists

Approved Document B says, in so many words, that hardware used on fire doors “can significantly affect their performance in a fire” (Appendix C, paragraph C15), and points to the DHF and GAI Hardware for Fire and Escape Doors Code of Practice. The same Appendix says test evidence must be checked to ensure it applies to the complete installed assembly, because small differences in detail may significantly affect the rating (C4). So the question “is this hinge, handle or seal acceptable?” has one answer for a designer: only if it is listed in the evidence for that doorset. This sheet is a matrix of what to ask for, component by component. The fire door specification guide covers the door and its rating, the installation and handover checklist covers the site, and the documentation sheet covers the paperwork.

What counts as evidence. The Code lists four: third-party certification of the building hardware; the fire-resisting doorset’s certification data sheet; fire test reports; or an assessment by a competent authority. The data sheet describes the type, material, dimensions and fixings of hardware that may be used without invalidating the certification; the Code says that fittings outside its scope “will invalidate the door’s certification, and possibly its fire resistance” (1.5.2). Test reports have a field of application: a closer tested on a latched door is not proven for the same door unlatched (1.5.3). BWF Fact Card 10 says the same in trade-body terms: if a leaf, frame, hinges, closer, latch and seals are bought separately you must ensure they are compatible, listed in the installation instructions or the test evidence, and “never use unlisted components”.

Essential and non-essential items. The Code separates the parts that keep the door shut in a fire (hinges or pivots, the closing device, a latch or lock that takes that role, intumescent and smoke seals, and escape devices on normally locked fire doors) from everything else. The rest, such as handles, plates and letter plates, must in no way impede or reduce the door’s ability to resist fire. It adds that a fire test uses new hardware with no significant cycling, so evidence of durability matters as well (1.3.4).

Approved Document B on hinges. Unless shown to be satisfactory when tested as part of a fire doorset assembly, the essential components of any hinge on which a fire door is hung should be made entirely from materials with a minimum melting point of 800 °C (C10). Fire doorsets should be marked with a fire safety sign complying with BS 5499-5, except doors to and within flats and dwellinghouses, bedroom doors in “residential (other)” premises and lift doors (C11, C12).

Hinges, closers, hold-open devices and locks

Hinges. The Code says it is usual for at least three hinges to be fitted to fire and escape route doors, that some heavy fire doors have two at the top and one at the bottom, and that it is unsafe to alter the as-tested position of a hinge without assessment by a suitably qualified authority (2.3.4). For doors heavier than 160 kg, or over 2,000 mm high and 1,000 mm wide, ask the hinge or door maker for a recommendation. A door closer puts extra stress on hinges: the Code quotes EN 1935 Annex E as recommending that the door mass be notionally increased by 20 per cent for a standard closer and by 75 per cent for one with back-check (2.3.5). Rising butt hinges and spring hinges are not recommended on fire doors (2.2.5, 2.2.6). Fixing screws in timber doors and frames should be not less than size No. 8 (3.8 mm) and 30 mm long (2.2.7). Hinges on final exit escape doors should have a corrosion resistance of not less than grade 3 of EN 1670 (2.2.8). The eight-digit code is explained in hinges and hardware metals.

Closers. A closer is a controlled closing device marked to BS EN 1154, with fire test evidence to EN 1634-1 or 1634-2 on the type of door and configuration (3.2.1, 3.2.2). Power size matters: EN 1154 Annex A treats sizes below 3 as unsuitable for fire doors, and the Code says a closer must suit the door size and mass, whether it is latched, and whether smoke seals are fitted (3.2.3, 3.3.1). Face-fixed overhead closers should not be used on unlatched doors where arm parts melt below 800 °C unless proven; concealed overhead closers need the intumescent protection described in the evidence; for floor springs, strap accessories are preferred (3.2.4 to 3.2.6). Spring hinges and rising butts cannot comply with EN 1154 and should not be used on doors designated as self-closing (3.2.7, 3.2.8). Approved Document B defines a self-closing device as one that closes a door, when open at any angle, against a door frame; the Code quotes it (3.2.12). Where the closer must also keep within an accessibility opening-force limit, see accessible doors and ironmongery.

Hold-open devices. The Code says manually released mechanical hold-open devices should not be used on fire doors because they inhibit the closing action; where a door has to be held open, or free-swinging for people with reduced mobility, use a specialist hold-open or free-swing device linked to the fire or smoke alarm and detection system, which releases the door on a signal or on power failure and complies with EN 1155 (3.2.9, 3.3.2). Appendix C of Approved Document B lists the ways a self-closing fire door may be held open: a fusible link (with a restriction for means of escape openings), an automatic release from the detection and alarm system, or a door closer delay device (C6). Pairs of doors that must close in sequence may need a door coordinator (EN 1158); gov.uk’s routine checks list a door selector among the items to test (6.11 of the guidance).

Locks and latches. A lock or latch must carry the conformity marking for its standard (the Code names EN 12209 or EN 179) and have fire test evidence on the door type and configuration (6.2.1, 6.2.2). Fitting one can reduce the door’s performance by removing material from the leaf, frame or seal, leaving voids, adding material that conducts heat, through-fixing, using parts that melt below 800 °C (900 °C on steel doors over 90 minutes), or incorporating materials that might flame (6.1). Only locks and latches with the requisite fire test evidence should be installed, and intumescent protection around the lock case is part of that evidence. Locked doors on escape routes should be operable by a single action, and where a door is normally locked while occupied the Code points to escape devices to EN 1125 or EN 179 (6.1, 6.2.3).

Handles, plates and other holes in the door

Levers, knobs and pulls. The Code says fire-resisting doors usually have lever handles or knobs if latched and pull handles or push plates if unlatched. Lever handles and knobs should comply fully with EN 1906 and pull handles with BS 8424, with evidence from a third party, and all door furniture should have been included in a satisfactory fire test to EN 1634-1 or 1634-2 on the type of door and configuration (8.2.1, 8.2.2). BSI Knowledge says the suitability of lock or latch furniture for fire and smoke doors is determined by fire performance tests in addition to those in BS EN 1906, which is why a mark to EN 1906 alone does not establish fire suitability. The Code adds that metallic handles have generally not been found to affect timber fire door performance greatly, but best practice is to include the handle in a fire test; and that levers made of plastic or polyamide should always have a steel core, because the material can melt and leave the lever inoperable or fall off, and can flame on the non-fire side (8.3.1). Where levers are used on self-closing doors a category of use grade of 3 or more is recommended, because of the opposing force of the closer; such products tend to have roses or backplates fixed back to back through the lock case, a performance bearing and a spindle fixed in the lever at both sides (8.3.2).

Pull handles and plates. Pull handles should use bolt-through fixings, which are more durable than face-fixed screws, and on single pulls the heads of the bolts should be hidden by a push plate or rose. The larger the fixing hole, the greater the risk of fire transfer, and an intumescent sleeve may be part of the evidence (8.2.4, 8.3.4). Protection plates are generally acceptable on fire doors where they are wholly surface mounted, occupy not more than 20 per cent of the leaf, are not more than 500 mm high (kick plates) or 300 mm high (mid plates), are of steel, brass or plastic or laminate on timber-based doors, are screw-fixed or bonded on timber and screw-fixed only on steel, are not thicker than 2 mm, and do not wrap around the edge or pass beneath the stops; the Code adds that the limits in the field of application for the specific door type always apply (8.3.5). Push plates of conventional size are described as unproblematic (8.3.6).

Letter plates, viewers and other holes. Letter plates must have been fire tested, can only be fitted to a door tested to accept one, and come with the intumescent they were tested with (8.3.7). Door viewers should not be fitted unless the model is supported by fire evidence in a door of the relevant material, and the hole should be as small as is practicable with suitable intumescent (8.3.8). The gov.uk guidance for doors in use also asks that a letterbox fitted to a door that did not have one is suitable for fire-resisting doors and was fitted by a specialist contractor (6.7(b)). The rule for a designer is simple: do not enlarge a hole, add a larger plate or change a material to suit the look, without evidence.

Seals, gaps and glazing

Perimeter seals. Intumescent seals sit in a rebate around the jambs and head, and at the meeting stile of pairs; smoke doors (FD30S, E30 Sa and similar) need a smoke seal as well, either combined with the intumescent or fitted separately (11.2.1). The Code says any deviation from the tested configuration can result in early failure, and that the type, size and configuration of seal relate directly to the test evidence. It lists three recognised intumescent materials (hydrated sodium silicate, which activates at about 100 to 120 °C; exfoliating graphite, typically about 150 to 220 °C; and mono-ammonium phosphate, a soft low-pressure foam), says they are not interchangeable without supporting evidence, and gives 10 x 4, 15 x 4 and 20 x 4 mm as the commonly used sizes for 30 and 60 minute doors, with the evidence dictating the type and size (11.2.4, 11.2.6, 11.4). Seals protected behind hinge blades, around lock cases, concealed closers, letter plates, viewers and through-bolts are part of the hardware evidence too; there are “no simple rules of thumb” (11.3). Check that seals are undamaged, touch the door or frame, and have not been painted over (gov.uk guidance 6.7(f)); the Code reports that BS 8214 allows overpainting of some intumescent types to a maximum of five coats or 0.5 mm, whichever is greater, never on the smoke element (11.4.1).

Threshold. The Code, citing BS 8214 and BS 9999, says a door set that must contain smoke needs either a smoke seal at the threshold or a gap of 3 mm; because floor tolerances make a 3 mm gap hard to achieve, the guidance allows a gap in line with the door maker’s specification, which it says is in general 8 to 10 mm, and an automatic drop seal is a practical answer that also helps accessibility (11.6). It reports a leakage rate of about 24 cubic metres per hour at 10 Pa across an unsealed threshold. The gap that applies to your door is the one on its certificate.

Glazing. BWF Fact Card 10 says the scheme’s doors cannot be glazed on site and must be supplied fully glazed, or adapted in a factory by a licensed processor. Approved Document B points to Table B3 for limits on uninsulated glazing in fire doorsets (C13); we did not read that table. Ask for the glazing system (glass type, beads, seals) to be named on the certificate or data sheet for the doorset, and see glass types for lit joinery and luminaires and steel and glass screens and doors for the glass itself.

Finish, accessibility and changes after specification

Finish. We found no source that says whether plating, PVD or lacquer on a tested lever, hinge or plate changes its fire performance. The Code says metallic handle materials have generally not been found to greatly affect timber door performance, but that best practice is to test; for steel doors it warns that non-metallic materials such as plastics on the unexposed face can support combustion, and that hardware tested on timber doors cannot be assumed to perform on steel doors, or the reverse (1.3.4, 8.3.1). Treat a change of base metal, plating or coating as a change of product until the door maker or certifier says otherwise in writing. Matching finishes across handles, hinges and screws is covered in hinges and hardware metals and ironmongery finish codes.

Accessibility. A stronger closer and tighter seals make a door harder to open, which meets the opening-force limit in Approved Document M. The Code says a closer chosen only to overcome poorly chosen or fitted seals is the wrong fix (3.3.1). Resolve it with the closer maker and the fire engineer; options are in accessible doors and ironmongery.

Changes after specification. Anyone on the project may ask for a different hinge, a larger plate, a viewer or a new finish. The route is in the chart below: if the exact part is listed for the doorset, fit it as instructed and keep the evidence; if not, ask the door maker or certifier for a written assessment; if none comes, do not fit it. Keep the answer with the door register, and maintain it: the Code says hardware needs a regular maintenance programme for the life of the building (2.2.4, 3.2.11), and the government guidance asks for checks of hinges, seals, gaps and the closer (6.7).

All ironmongery, seals and glazing on fire-rated doorsets [FD30S / E30 Sa / other] to be those listed in the certificate, test evidence or assessment for that doorset. The schedule to state against each item its standard, product reference and evidence reference. No item to be added, moved, enlarged, substituted or finished differently without written confirmation from the doorset manufacturer or its certification body.

[3] hinges per leaf at the positions in the evidence, with the fire grade digit stated, fixed with the screws listed. Controlled door closing device to BS EN 1154 of power size [3 or more] with evidence for this doorset, latched or unlatched as tested; torque curve to be supplied. Hold-open, if any, to BS EN 1155, released by the fire alarm.

Lever handles to BS EN 1906, category of use grade [3] or higher, and pulls to BS 8424, each with fire test evidence on this door type; plastic levers to have a steel core; pulls bolt-through. Plates, letter plates and viewers only as listed. No hole to be enlarged.

Intumescent and smoke seals as tested for rating [ ], not painted over. Threshold: [gap per certificate / drop seal listed as ___]. Glazing and beads supplied by the doorset manufacturer, factory-fitted; no glazing on site.

Standards and sources

• gov.uk: Approved Document B volume 2, Appendix C (2019 edition incorporating amendments to 2026): C4, C5, C6, C10 to C15. Read 7 Nov 2026.
• DHF and GAI: Code of Practice, Hardware for fire and escape doors (Issue 5, November 2024): sections 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 11. Advisory. Read.
• BWF Fire Door Alliance Fact Card 10 (September 2024); gov.uk fire door guidance (updated 8 August 2025): read.
• BSI Knowledge listings, 7 Nov 2026 (standards not read): BS EN 1935:2002, 1154:1997, 1906:2012, 1125:2008, 1634-1:2014+A1:2018: under review; EN 1155:1997, 1158:1997, 179:2008, 1634-3:2004: current; EN 12209:2024: current; BS 8424:2004: current.

Questions we are asked

Can I change the handles on a fire door?

Only to handles that are listed in the evidence for that doorset, or that the door maker or certifier has accepted in writing. The Code says metal handles have generally not been found to affect timber fire door performance greatly, but best practice is to include the handle in a fire test, and plastic levers need a steel core.

Does a CE or UKCA mark mean a part is suitable for a fire door?

No. The mark shows conformity with the product standard. BSI Knowledge says suitability of lock or latch furniture for fire and smoke doors is determined by fire performance tests in addition to BS EN 1906, and the Code asks for fire test evidence on the type of door.

Can I fit a letterbox or a door viewer to a fire door?

Only types with fire test evidence, in a door that was tested to accept them, with the intumescent they were tested with. The Code says viewers should not be fitted without evidence in a door of the relevant material.

Can I use a door stop or wedge to hold a fire door open?

No. The Code says manually released mechanical hold-open devices should not be used on fire doors. Use an electrically powered hold-open device or a swing-free closer that releases on the fire alarm and on power failure.

What gap should a fire door have at the threshold?

The gap on the doorset certificate. The Code says that for smoke control a 3 mm gap or a smoke seal is needed, that door makers generally allow 8 to 10 mm, and that automatic drop seals are a practical answer. It is not a design figure.

Do the studio’s partner workshops supply fire doorsets or fire-rated hardware?

This sheet makes no claim that the studio or its partner workshops supply, certify or install fire doorsets. If a project needs fire doors, ask each supplier which certified doorset it is, which hardware is listed, and who installs it, and ask for the certificate before manufacture.