Fire door inspection in West Drayton and Yiewsley
Flats over shops, back stairs and small blocks.
Get a priceYiewsley's parades have flats above the shops. West Drayton has a few too.
The door we care about in those is not the shopfront. It is the narrow one at the side or back that leads to the stairs.
The side door to the flats
You will often see a plain door between two shops, with a row of buzzers beside it. That door opens onto a staircase, and the staircase is the only way down for everyone above.
It is a fire door in the way that matters most. It sits between the flats' escape route and the shop below, and smoke from the shop needs to be kept out of the stairs.
These doors are often old. They have had a letterbox fitted, a new lock cut in, a coat of external paint over the seals and a brass kickplate screwed on. Weather has swollen the timber at the bottom.
Back doors and yards
The other doors are at the back. A flat above a shop might have a second stair to a yard, and a back door that opens out onto bins and a delivery area. Those get damp and they get wedged.
We check that the back door still latches, that the yard side has not rotted at the foot and that nothing is blocking the route. We write down the things that look like an obstruction, because that is not a door fault but you will want to know.
Who is responsible
If you own the freehold of the whole parade or the building, the duty is yours under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. If you let the shop and the flat separately, each has its own responsible person for its own part, and you need to be clear who has the shared stair.
That is a matter for your solicitor and your fire risk assessor. We tell you what we find on the doors.
Small blocks
There are small blocks of flats in both areas, many of them three or four storeys. Under 11 metres, the 2022 regulations do not set a timetable for checking. Your fire risk assessment should.
What it costs
Small buildings, a few doors. A job like this starts from around £250 plus VAT and goes up with door count.
Getting here
We come from Luton and we are not based in West Drayton. We come down the M25 and often combine it with Uxbridge or Hayes.
Questions we get asked
Is the shop door a fire door too?
It may not be. A shopfront is usually not on the flat's escape route. The door to the stairs is the one to check.
Do you inspect from outside?
We have to open the door. Seeing it from the street tells us very little.
Send the postcode and a rough number of doors. A price comes back the same day.
Get a price