External fire rated doors are a critical component of a building’s fire safety strategy. They are designed to withstand fire for a specified period of time which helps to contain its spread of fire and smoke and buys the building’s occupants valuable time to evacuate. This guide to external fire rated doors covers the essential information you need to know about external fire rated doors, from understanding fire ratings to the regulations that govern their use in the UK.
What Are External Fire Rated Doors?
An external fire rated door is a door set that has been tested and certified to resist fire for a specific duration of time. Unlike a standard external door, a fire door is a complete assembly. This includes the door leaf, the frame, hardware such as hinges, latches and closers and any seals. For a fire door to be effective, every component must work together. If one part fails, the entire door set’s integrity could be compromised during a fire.
These doors are not just about fire resistance. They must also function as external doors, providing security, weather resistance and thermal insulation for a building. They serve as a barrier, preventing the spread of fire and smoke from one area to another and are a fundamental part of a building’s passive fire protection system.
How Fire Rated Doors Are Tested: Understanding The Ratings
Fire resistant doors are rated based on the amount of time they can provide protection. In the UK and Europe, you will often see ratings like EI30 or EI60. This classification is broken down into two key performance criteria:
- Integrity (E): This measures the door’s ability to prevent the passage of flames and hot gases. If a door is rated E60, it will stop fire from passing through it for at least 60 minutes.
- Insulation (I): This refers to the door’s capacity to block the transfer of heat. An EI60 rated door will not only stop flames for 60 minutes but will also limit the temperature rise on the non-fire side of the door, preventing ignition of materials nearby and ensuring the escape route remains passable.
At Aluminium Fire Systems, our products are EI rated to provide the highest level of protection to ensure that the door also manages the transfer of dangerous heat, which is a critical safety feature.
Common ratings include EI30 and EI60. However, for specialised projects requiring extended evacuation times, such as high-rise towers or industrial facilities, we also manufacture solutions rated up to EI90 and EI120.
The Key Components Of A Fire Door Assembly
A fire door is an engineered system where each part plays a vital role. For the rating to be valid, every element must be compatible and tested together.
- The Door Leaf: This is the main body of the door itself, constructed from fire-resistant materials. The configuration, whether a single or double door or one including overpanels and side lights, must be explicitly covered by the fire test evidence.
- The Door Frame: The frame is just as important as the door leaf and must have an equivalent fire rating. It supports the door and contains crucial intumescent seals. A standard frame cannot be used with a fire door leaf.
- Hardware: All hardware, including hinges, locks, latches, and closers, must be fire-rated (often CE or UKCA marked). Standard hardware would likely fail quickly when exposed to high temperatures, causing the door to fail. An automatic closing device is essential to ensure the door acts as a barrier when needed; if electromagnetic hold-open devices are required, they must link to the fire alarm system for automatic release.
- Intumescent Seals: These are critical for the door’s performance. When exposed to heat, intumescent seals expand to many times their original size, filling the gap between the door and the frame to stop the passage of fire.
Additional performance: Smoke control (Sa/Sm) is a separate performance metric to fire resistance (EI). If the building strategy requires smoke control, specific smoke seals (often combined with intumescent strips) must be fitted to restrict the flow of cold smoke before the heat activates the intumescent material.
UK Regulations For External Fire Doors
In the UK, the requirements for fire doors are outlined in building regulations. The primary document is Approved Document B (Fire Safety). The regulations specify where fire doors are needed, particularly in commercial and public buildings, multi-occupancy residential buildings and as a connection between a house and an integral garage.
All fire door sets must be tested and classified to strict standards. We ensure full compliance by adhering to BS 476-22 as well as the rigorous European standards BS EN 1634-1 and BS EN 13501-2. It is essential that the entire door assembly is certified, not just individual components.
You can install our fire rated doors without having certification or specific accreditations.
The Advantages Of Choosing Aluminium For Your Fire Doors
While external fire doors can be made from various materials, aluminium offers a unique combination of benefits. Modern fire rated aluminium doors provide excellent fire resistance without compromising on design.
Aluminium is naturally strong and durable yet lightweight. It is also highly resistant to corrosion, making it an ideal material for external doors that are exposed to the elements. Unlike other materials, aluminium can be formed into slim frames, allowing for larger glazed areas without affecting the fire rating. This means you can have a door that is safe, secure and lets in plenty of natural light.
To ensure our fire rated doors meet high thermal and fire performance standards, our profiles are engineered with specialised cooling inserts (such as GKF boards or ceramic cores) housed within the profile chambers. These inserts absorb heat and protect the structural integrity of the aluminium, allowing us to maintain slim, attractive sightlines without sacrificing the EI rating.
Our System of Choice: MB-78EI
We manufacture our external fire rated doors using the market-leading Aluprof MB-78EI system. This system is widely respected in the industry for its versatility, allowing us to create flush, thermally-broken doors that offer excellent weather resistance and thermal insulation for daily use.
Because the MB-78EI system is fully certified for both internal and external use, it provides a seamless look across a project while delivering proven fire resistance from EI30 up to EI90.
Configuration & Hardware Options
To ensure your project meets its specific compliance requirements, we can configure this system to suit your needs:
- Configurations: We provide single and double door sets, with options for overpanels and side lights, these are all fully covered by our certification evidence.
- Hardware: We supply only listed and compatible hardware, including fire-rated hinges, locks, closers, and panic hardware.
- Sealing: All our doors come fitted with the necessary drop seals and intumescent strips to meet your specified Integrity and Insulation ratings.
Real-World Applications: Why Clients Come to Us for their Fire Rated Doors
While every project is unique, we most frequently see the requirement for external fire rated doors in two specific scenarios:
1. Boundary Protection (The 1-Metre Rule):
If a building is designed within 1 metre of a boundary line or a neighbouring property, Building Regulations usually dictate that the external wall (and any doors within it) must be fire-rated to prevent fire spread to the adjacent building. Clients choose our aluminium solutions here because they allow for glazed, stylish doors that still meet strict boundary fire codes.
2. Protected Escape Routes:
In many commercial and multi-occupancy residential projects, the final exit door leads from a protected stairway into a courtyard or external alleyway. If that external route is narrow, the door itself must hold back radiant heat to ensure the escape path remains safe for occupants to pass.
We see a mix of new builds specifying these systems from the outset, and retrofit projects where Fire Risk Assessments (FRA) have flagged older, non-compliant timber or PVC doors that need upgrading to aluminium EI-rated systems.
Maintaining Your External Fire Rated Doors: Everything You Need To Know
While UK law is clear that fire doors must be kept in ‘efficient and good working order’, the actual schedule for inspection isn’t always a one-size-fits-all scenario. It largely tends to depend on the height and nature of the building in question.
For heavy use fire rated doors more frequent checks are required by the building owner/responsible person to ensure that they are maintained.
The landscape changed significantly with the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. Since 23 January 2023, Fire doors: Regulation 10, imposed stricter legal duties on responsible persons managing multi-occupied residential buildings in England that are over 11 metres in height.
Specifically, the requirements are to:
- Undertake quarterly checks of all fire doors in the common parts, which includes checking self-closing devices
- Undertake annual checks of all flat entrance doors (and their self-closers) on a ‘best endeavour’ basis
Context is key here. This legislation was introduced as a direct response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 report. The inquiry highlighted that, while fire doors play an essential role in stopping the spread of smoke and toxic gases, widespread damage and disrepair at Grenfell meant they simply couldn’t function as intended.
Why Choose Aluminium Fire Systems?
As one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of fire rated products, we are committed to providing solutions that offer safety and compliance without sacrificing design. We manufacture our products in the UK, which gives us complete control over quality and allows us to offer competitive pricing by selling directly to our clients.
Our streamlined project management and production processes mean we can offer fast lead times and on-time nationwide delivery, ensuring your project stays on schedule. When you work with us, you receive a full compliance pack, giving you complete peace of mind that your fire doors meet all the latest standards and regulations.
GUIDE TO EXTERNAL FIRE RATED DOORS Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between E and EI fire ratings?
An E rating only refers to Integrity, which is the door’s ability to block flames and hot gases. An EI rating covers both Integrity and Insulation. This means the door also prevents a significant amount of heat from transferring through, which is a critical factor in protecting escape routes and preventing the fire from spreading.
View our article: Types of fire safety glass: E vs EI
Can I fit a spyhole or letterbox to a fire door?
Altering a fire door (e.g. cutting a hole for a letterbox that wasn’t in the original test) voids the doors certification and is a breach of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Such alterations should only be done by a certified specialist, using fire-rated products that have been tested as compatible with the specific door set.
Do external fire doors need maintenance?
Regular maintenance is essential to ensure a fire door remains effective. A damaged fire door may not perform correctly in a fire. Checks should be carried out periodically to inspect for any issues.
Look for damage to the door leaf or frame, particularly around the edges. Ensure the gaps between the door and the frame are consistent and not too large. Check that the intumescent seals are in good condition and have not been damaged. Finally, test the door’s closer to make sure it shuts the door firmly and completely from any open position. Any problems should be addressed immediately by a certified professional.
How often should external fire doors be checked?
UK law is that fire doors must be kept in ‘efficient and good working order’, however the actual schedule for inspection isn’t always a one-size-fits-all scenario so it’s important to check the law for your specific building type.
Can I install an external fire door myself?
Yes, you can install your external fire rated door yourself without needing certified installers.
About The Author
Lauren Walker is the Managing Director of Aluminium Fire Systems. With extensive experience in the UK’s fire safety and manufacturing sectors, Lauren is dedicated to ensuring the highest standards of product quality and compliance, helping clients protect their properties and the people within them.